


The Making of Mavericks

by AppoApples



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 102,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26623513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppoApples/pseuds/AppoApples
Summary: Master Obi-Wan Kenobi couldn't let her just walk out into the galaxy without a lifeline. With Commander Cody and Captain Rex at his side, Obi-Wan tries to give Ahsoka some well meant advice. But the Force was listening and decided these four souls needed to blaze a better path. With all that has happened to them, waking up twenty-five years in the past shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Comments: 776
Kudos: 1246





	1. Wait

The Making of Mavericks

**Summary:** Master Obi-Wan Kenobi couldn't let her just walk out into the galaxy without a lifeline. With Commander Cody and Captain Rex at his side, Obi-Wan tries to give Ahsoka some well-meant advice. But the Force was listening and decided these four souls needed to blaze a better path. With all that has happened to them, waking up twenty-five years in the past shouldn't be a big deal, right?

* * *

**KEYnotes:** I know it's unclear in the references but my version of the clones start aging normally once they reach twenty. Also, I'm relying mostly on legends, but instead of Komari Vosa, I'm using Rael Averross ;)

**Warning:** I have a language disability. First chapter, however, was edited by Nauze, yeah!

Chapter 1 - Wait

Obi-Wan shrugged off Plo's hand as shame threatened to drown him.

He had known Ahsoka was innocent. But he had bowed to the Council's wisdom.

But he was  _ on _ the Council, he should have trusted more in his  _ own  _ wisdom.

But trusting himself was easier said than done. His own Master hadn't wanted him, not at the end, not at the beginning.

Qui-Gon had lost their tentative trust in him when he himself had left the Order, and though he thought their bond had been growing stronger, that was only until the day Qui-Gon found the Chosen One and then all his worst fears had been proven real.

Yet all those years ago, he had left not because he didn't want to be a Jedi, but because  _ as _ a Jedi, he couldn't leave people to suffer behind.

And now, Ahsoka was in the same position. Again, the Council was wrong, hell, maybe the entire Order was wrong. Fighting a war to force systems to stay in a corrupt government.

He hadn't truly had much time to reflect on the war as a whole over the last few years, but Barriss's accusations had been a slap in the face, and Ahsoka leaving were the nails in a coffin.

He sprinted from the room, going first to his own to grab a spare travel pack with a medkit, and yes, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi always had medkits on hand, and all the credits he had. Then, he went to Anakin's room and emptied his emergency stash too. It still wasn't a lot, but if she was careful, she could get a ride off this planet, rent a room for maybe a month and get a few decent enough meals out of it.

He messaged Cody next, who messaged back that he and Rex were on their way.

Thanks to his sprinting, and his using the Force to add to that speed, he caught up to Anakin on the steps, staring numbly down at Ahsoka's lightsabres in his hands.

Obi-Wan snatched them out of his hands.

"Obi-Wan!" Anakin protested, looking up at him with wide eyes, "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting out of my own way. I'll be back."

"But her sabres-"

"I am not letting her go out into the world defenceless," he said before taking the steps two at a time. That Anakin didn't follow him, spoke to how defeated he felt.

The sun was casting long shadows and Obi-Wan almost regretted ruining her dramatic moment.

Almost.

"Ahsoka, wait!"

She turned, "Master Kenobi?"

He slowed and motioned her to the side of the steps, "We need to talk."

She frowned at him, "You can't convince me to stay."

He nodded, "Maybe not, but Jedi Padawan or not, I'm not going to abandon you."

She glared at him, the temper that Anakin, unsurprisingly, hadn't taught her yet how to overcome, "You already did."

He flinched, bowing his head, "I know, and I am sorrier than I can say, Ahsoka. But please, I just want to speak with you."

She hesitated then nodded.

He was about to sit on the steps but Cody and Rex made excellent time arriving on speeder bikes.

"What is this?" she asked.

Rex took off his helmet to frown at her, "Leaving before you say goodbye, Commander? I'm hurt."

She crossed her arms, "Says the man who shot at me."

Rex's eyes expressed a well of sorrow that mirrored Obi-Wan's own feelings.

Cody patted the back of his bike, "I didn't shoot at you, Tano."

She sighed and a small smile broke through as she rolled her eyes at them, "Fine." And hopped on behind Cody as Obi-Wan followed suit behind Rex.

"Where to, General?" Cody asked.

"Dex's, my treat," he said, knowing that Dex would let him pay with his account so he could give all his solid credits to Ahsoka.

She shook her head slightly but didn't protest as they zipped off into Coruscanti traffic.

By the time they reached Dex's, Ahsoka was clearly lost in her own thoughts, the weight of her decision hanging heavy on her shoulders.

He wanted to tell her that they would take her back in an instant, but she was as stubborn as Anakin and he saved himself the breath.

They took their seats in a booth and Dex came over to jovially take their orders, Ahsoka could hardly muster a smile at him.

Rex looked notably uncomfortable around the besalisk, so much so that Obi-Wan found himself asking, "Rex, what did actually happen on Umbara?"

Rex's face went completely blank and Cody glanced away, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

Ahsoka looked at Rex, feeling his dread, his sorrow, his quiet fury as clearly as Obi-Wan did.

"Rex, are you alright?" she asked.

The Captain said nothing.

"Rex," Obi-Wan said gently, laying a hand on the man's hand where it had fisted on the table, "I'm about to break a number of rules today. So you can speak completely off the record, and you have my oath that what you tell me will be in complete confidence."

Rex exchanged a look with Cody, and Cody canted his head to the side, staring at Obi-Wan as if he were trying to see into his soul.

Obi-Wan realized that as much as they trusted each other to keep one another alive, neither Obi-Wan nor Ahsoka were confidants for their men.

Another wash of shame came over Obi-Wan. Some Padawan of Qui-Gon he turned out to be.

But Cody turned his gaze back Rex, "I trust him to keep his oath."

Rex let out a long breath, "Pong Krell," and he said the name with venom, "walked us into a slaughter. We tried arguing with him, we even went behind his back to infiltrate that base. Hardcase sacrificed his life to blow up the command battleship."

Obi-Wan nodded, "I remember that was an incredible achievement and a terrible sacrifice."

Ahsoka never took her eyes off Rex.

Rex nodded, and his voice fell into a monotone, "Krell labelled them as traitors. And tried to get us to execute them for disobeying direct orders."

Ahsoka gasped, "What the kriff? Why? You saved so many lives, that doesn't make any sense."

Rex glanced at her, "We didn't do it, we put them in prison instead."

Obi-Wan squeezed his hand, "It gets worse, doesn't it?"

Rex actually turned his gloved hand over to interlace his finger's with Obi-Wan's.

"He told us that the enemy had stolen our fallen brothers' uniforms. Krell had us shoot each other down on opposite sides of the ridge."

Obi-Wan felt his heart break at this, that was too much.

This was too much.

Obi-Wan had been harbouring doubts about the Order, about the part they played in this war, about using men made and grown to die in war, in taking their Padawans into so much danger. But this was too much.

This was a betrayal of everything.

The enemy had already won if this is what they had become.

He felt the others staring at him as he clung to Rex's hand.

Ahsoka reached across the table to wipe at Obi-Wan's cheek. It was only then that he realized he was crying.

Silent tears for the thousands that had died under his watch, and to the depths that the Jedi had sunk.

Cody spoke into that moment, "That's how we lost Waxer. I hate that it's called friendly fire, when it feels like the worst of crimes."

Obi-Wan touched Ahsoka's hand where she had rested it on his cheek as he asked, "Please tell me you killed him?"

Cody flinched.

Rex squeezed down on his hand, near painfully, "He took many of us down with him, but yes."

Ahsoka lowered her hand as she met Rex's gaze, "I'm glad he's dead."

Obi-Wan shook his head, "I don't know how someone that evil could be granted the rank of Master."

"This war is doing more than killing us," Ahsoka said, "It's breaking us."

He closed his eyes. Rex pulled back his hand as the food arrived.

"You alright, Obi-Wan?" Dex asked.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes, "Sure, just send me back a few decades when the galaxy wasn't trying to rip itself apart."

Dex laughed, "Ah, lad, the galaxy's always had an underbelly, you're just the ones in the thick of it." And on that cheery note, he left.

Cody and Rex were the first to taste their milkshakes, and Obi-Wan felt some of his sorrow chased back by the bliss that crossed their faces.

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan exchanged a small smile.

Obi-Wan suddenly had an image of the entire 212th and 501st filling up Dexter's, and promptly decided that if this war ever ended he would take out a loan just to see it done. Sure, the Council would be peeved, but Obi-Wan found the part of him that Qui-Gon had long wished to awaken in him.

Screw the Council.

Obi-Wan let everyone enjoy their meal; Ahsoka, still the growing teenager, munching down a stake at an almost alarming rate. The clones were much slower, savouring their meal. It wasn't as if, officers as they were, they had never eaten out.

But Dexter's Diner was the type of food that was exceptionally good and fed all the cravings. The kind of place that even Anakin, who had a palate of ‘if it isn't  _ completely _ rotten it's edible’, came to Dexter's for comfort food. A tradition that Obi-Wan was pleased to see had been passed down to his Grandpadawan.

Yet, knowing that Ahsoka would be eager to leave soon, less her regrets get the best of her, Obi-Wan breached the current crisis at hand.

"So, Ahsoka, what's your plan?"

She looked up from her plate, and blinked large blue eyes at him, "What plan?"

"I mean, you are no longer a Jedi, what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said.

He sighed and pulled from his side the pack that he had brought her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking the pack.

"A survival bag, medical supplies, rations,  _ credits _ ."

She just blinked at him.

He gave a mirthless smile, "You know, the stuff people use to buy things, such as food, renting rooms, or transportation."

"You can have one of the speeders we brought," Rex told her.

Ahsoka stared down at the bag, "Thanks."

Obi-Wan sighed, "I know you want to do this on your own, but you are not alone. Anakin and I will be quite busy but we can still make time for you when we can and-"

She glowered up at him, "I needed your help and you said nothing _. _ "

He shook his head, "I should have been louder. But Plo and I did speak on your behalf. I never believed you capable of bombing the Temple."

"Then why didn't you help Anakin in the investigation?" she shot at him.

"Because I am a Council member, Ahsoka, and I could have been implemented."

"Oh, so you were watching out for yourself?"

He shook his head and gestured to Rex and Cody, "I was looking out for them. The Senate has started making accusations against the Jedi Order. They are blaming us for the war. And while I would love for the Jedi to be removed from the war, the alternative is that our men get placed with people like Tarkin."

"So?" she asked, "Didn't we once risk our lives to save Tarkin?"

"Yes, we did. And maybe the Jedi as a whole don't have the greatest military minds, the Senate trained ones have been prone to treating the troops as if they are not people. With few exceptions, whenever the political-types take to the field our victories are higher, but so too are our losses and civilian deaths."

Cody spoke up, "Sir, you are one of the greatest military minds in the GAR."

Obi-Wan inclined his head, "I was exposed to war at an early age. It stuck with me, sometimes I think I lost things that my other brothers and sisters have, but I have been grateful for those skills in recent years."

Ahsoka was staring at him, "Wait, so you really believed I was innocent?"

He met her gaze, "Of course I did, you were very nearly my Padawan, Ahsoka, until Yoda dictated otherwise. That would have been a bit unfair to you once I was appointed on the Council, but I never doubted you."

_ Only ever myself,  _ he thought.

She frowned, "Then that thing they said about it being my trial-"

He snorted derisively, "That was Bantha-shit, Mace was feeling guilty. We all were. It isn't often the High Council has to confront being so completely in the wrong."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "So you don't think I deserve to be knighted?"

He smiled at her gently, "No, Ahsoka, I don't. You have had to sacrifice more than any generation before you. But you are only seventeen. And while you are far more in touch with the Living and Cosmic Force than even I am at times, you still have much to learn. Especially when it comes to your philosophical and spiritual training."

She frowned, "That's not really Anakin's style, and he graduated at nineteen."

He shrugged, "Quite honestly, Ahsoka, I gave up faith that there was anything left that Anakin would let me teach him. He stopped listening to me, and once the war started…" his voice trailed off as he remembered the rift that had been forming between them, "Anakin and I were not well-matched as Padawan and Master. We work better together as peers than we had during his apprentice years. I don't think I was old enough to be the person he needed me to be, and what I didn't know how to handle, I made up for with bluster."

Ahsoka shook her head, "Anakin wouldn't have faulted you for having faults, Obi-Wan."

But Obi-Wan remembered all the times Anakin had thrown 'You're not the Master that Qui-Gon was' in his face. The angry outbursts of a young boy, who likely still didn't understand how deeply those words had cut him.

She must have seen it on his face, because she asked, "Obi-Wan, you might not have been my Master, but you have been with me from the beginning of my Padawanship. You are a great Master. Anakin was lucky to have you."

"Perhaps, but we are here to talk about you, and what you need."

She sat back crossing her arms, "Well, thanks for the survival bag, but you telling me I'm not good enough to be a Jedi isn't exactly helping."

He shook his head, "Ahsoka, I would trust you in a fight over most Knights in the Order, but as I was unable to teach Anakin, fighting and power does not a Jedi make."

"Then what does?"

"Schooling of the heart," he answered.

She rolled her eyes at him, "What does that mean?"

"It means giving a damn about the greater galaxy, caring about others above yourself; it means looking into the face of horror and tragedy, and greeting it with patience and compassion. It means giving up everything for someone who might very well spit in your face after you've helped them. And learning to deal with the kind of impact that takes on your soul, learning to find strength and meaning in the Force, that's what means to be a Jedi. And you, Ahsoka Tano, will one day be one of the brightest lights among us, whether you stay with the Order or not."

She stared at him, as were Rex and Cody.

Obi-Wan signalled to the waiter for another round of chocolate smoothies.

When Ahsoka said nothing, as she finished the rest of her meal and started in on the next chocolate shake.

Cody and Rex watched them quietly while sipping from striped straws.

Obi-Wan pressed, "But your choice to leave the Order means you cut yourself off from the community that supports that way of life. Because out there, in the wider galaxy, it is a very selfish place, most people are just fighting to stay alive, to carve out a little piece of happiness for themselves, sometimes, or often, uncaring if that price is paid by someone else."

Ahsoka's face darkened, and her lips pressed together, clearly wanting to argue with him but after the years of respect that she had given him, clearly snapping back at him now wasn't yet instinctual.

Not that she wouldn't sass him if the topic was a tad lighter.

"Perhaps," he offered, "you should consider reaching out to Padme, or Satine, or even Bail Organa, all of whom would be more than happy to hel-"

"I don't need anyone to take care of me," she finally snapped.

"Maybe not," he retorted, "but that doesn't mean there aren't dozens of people who love you and would be more than happy to give you a lighter load. I don't begrudge your leaving the Order, not after everything we have put you through, but you do not have to go through it alone."

"What do you know?" she asked, "It's not like you've ever-"

"I left the Order when I was thirteen," he interjected, "mere months after finally being chosen as a Padawan."

She gaped at him, "What?"

"But why?" Cody asked. "You're the pinnacle of what a Jedi is supposed to be, why would you have ever left?"

Obi-Wan felt gratified by Cody's praise, "My Master and I were sent to rescue a fellow Jedi, as it happens, she was Qui-Gon's lover, Master Tahl, and I was overly moved by the plight of Melida/Daan, and stayed to fight in their civil war."

Ahsoka was gaping at him again, "Excuse me, but what? At thirteen? On your own? And your Master just left you? And Master Qui-Gon Jinn had a lover? In the Order?"

He smiled, "Quite scandalous, I know, but Qui-Gon was the living, breathing definition of a Maverick. I'm sorry that you never got to meet him."

"How can you speak so fondly of him when he left you?" she asked softly.

Obi-Wan shook his head, remembering the look of betrayal on his Master's face still to this day, "Because I was the one who left him." He pulled her lightsabres off his belt and handed them to her.

"Master- I can't-"

"You can. The galaxy is a dangerous place and I will turn in my own sabre before I allow you to run off unarmed."

He wasn't sure if he needed to remind her that the Sith would still be likely to target her.

Ahsoka blinked back tears, "I wish things had been different."

The table began to shake. And Cody and Rex pulled them both under the table as an earthquake- something utterly unheard of on Coruscant began to rip the world asunder as the Force itself opened around them and they fell into blackness.

* * *

When Ahsoka next opened her eyes, she found herself in a tunnel under two armoured bodies and crushed into someone who was even bonier than she was.

Rex and Cody came awake with a jolt, both took positions on either end of the tunnel as Ahsoka instinctively checked the boy she had woken up on top of.

He was wearing Jedi robes but had no lightsabre that she could see. She found his pulse strong under her fingertips.

Where were they? Who the kriffing hells was this kid, and why were they not dead? She had felt the world break. Felt the Force rising in a wave of Darkness to destroy - _ everything. _

And she knew at the gentlest touch of reaching out with her senses that they were no longer on Coruscant.

"Our frequencies aren't connecting, Tano," Rex informed her.

"I don't know where we are, but there isn't enough life on this planet to be Coruscant," she offered as she tried to shake the boy awake.

"Tell me that isn't because everyone died?" Cody asked dryly.

She paused, reaching out further, "No, there is death here, but not at that proportion."

If Coruscant was destroyed, the cry in the Force would be heard throughout the galaxy. Which made her wonder why she could feel no pain in the Force, not even considering she had been co-existing with it since the war started.

The boy came gasping awake.

"Easy," she said, "You were unconscious."

The boy rubbed his temples, "Ahsoka?" he asked without looking up, "What happened?"

"I don't know," she said, slightly confused at his familiar Force presence, "What's your name, Padawan?"

His eyes flashed open, "Do not sass me right now, Ahsoka Tano. You know very well who I am."

She gaped at him, this boy with a still cracking voice, with short cropped hair but for one of those ridiculous nerf ponytails some human Padawans thought fashionable and his Padawan braid.

He coughed, as if trying to clear his throat, as if he hadn't recognized it either.

"Master Obi-Wan Kenobi?" she asked as she stared into Obi-Wan Kenobi's blue eyes in a face that was a few decades too young.

Rex and Cody looked back at them as Obi-Wan folded his arms in his sleeves, shoulders thrown back, "Who else would I be?"

She smirked, if this was a dream, she was going to treasure it forever, as she gave a soft tug on his Padawan braid, and mused, "Not sure, someone who hasn't passed puberty yet?"

All the colour drained from his face.

And then came the patter of feet, echoing in the underground tunnels. Ahsoka pulled her lightsabres without igniting them as Cody turned his blaster in the direction Rex had been aiming.

A human girl with copper hair and pale green eyes came to an abrupt halt as she rounded the corner. She stared at the two troopers pointing blasters at her. Cody and Rex instantly lowered their weapons from the unarmed girl.

"Obi-Wan?" she called out tentatively, "who are they?"

Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, stepped forward, almost tripping over his own feet, "Cerasi?"

"Yes?" she asked, voice concerned.

He stared at her mutely as though he had no words.

Ahsoka supplied, "We are Obi-Wan's friends, we're here to help." She offered help because the poor girl looked as if she hadn't had a decent meal in months.

Cerasi nodded, accepting it on faith that whoever was with Obi-Wan was trustworthy, "Good to have you. Obi-Wan, there is a meeting."

Obi-Wan seemed to come to attention then, "Alright, I'll be right there, just give us a minute or so, Cerasi." He said her name like a question.

But the girl nodded before darting back off through the Temple.

"General," Cody addressed what Ahsoka was beginning to suspect was truly their Master Kenobi stuck in his own thirteen year old body, "What's going on?"

"I think," Obi-Wan said, running a hand over his fuzzy head, wincing when he discovered the nerf ponytail, "that we are in the middle of a small planetary civil war, twenty-five years in the past."

"That's impossible, Sir," Cody informed his General primly.

Rex was more direct, "This has something to do with the karking Force, doesn't it?"

Ahsoka was staring blankly into space as she tried to wrap her head around this, because no dream or vision she had ever had been this solid.

She was left wondering why, by all the stars, bantha-shit like this kept happening to them. Because in her padawanship of three years under Anakin Skywalker she had done a number of implausible things. Like leading battalions into battle, leading stealth missions, getting kidnapped and hunted like prey only to be saved by wookies. Oh, and being forced to the Dark Side by a personification of the Force itself, like being murdered and subsequently resurrected. And now time travel just felt like the next cosmic shenanigans the Force thought so kindly to gift her with.

A bomb went off somewhere above ground and Ahsoka caught Obi-Wan as he stumbled. Her montrals hummed with the vibrations around her as the sounds of screaming children rose and pittered off in the tunnels about them.

"Welcome," Obi-Wan said in a voice that was not yet his, but with enough sarcasm to assure her he was himself, "to the wonders of Melida/Daan."

Another bomb shook the tunnels.

Cody and Rex stared at them, and until that moment, Ahsoka had never appreciated quite how expressive Mandalorian helmets could be.

* * *

AN: So one of my ways to get out a depression cycle is to think up a new story. Hope you enjoy, and I cannot thank the people still reviewing enough. Your thoughts and feedback get me through reality :D

  
  



	2. Dads

AN: Nauze betaed, again! Yeah!

Chapter 2 - Dads

As it turned out, putting a Captain, a Jedi Commander, a Marshal Commander, and a Jedi High General, also dubbed the Negotiator, all of the GAR in charge of one side of a single, human only, small civil war was, how would one put it…

Overkill.

Even if all they had to work with was a child army.

Obi-Wan was pleased that this time when he left Melida/Daan, the peace there was based on a more solid ground because he, Rex, Cody, and Ahsoka all had more experience in war than Qui-Gon had. Also he was glad that the peace negotiated was not built on Cerasi's death, but on her life, as she was elected the Prime Minister and the parliament they had constructed was equal parts young and old.

"Nice to get a ship rather than a new mission to another war torn planet," Ahsoka said.

Obi-Wan shifted in his seat, awkwardly, because everything he did in this body was awkward. Kriffing growth spurts. He had thought he had overcome his natural clumsiness.

As it turned out, he had merely grown out of them.

Retraining himself in the graceful steps of Soresu was going to be an exercise in patience.

"Well about that," he said.

The three turned to him in the cockpit as they drifted in orbit, where they had yet to settle on a destination other than not Melida/Daan.

"Sir," Cody said in a clipped tone, his brown eyes filled with suspicion.

"Well," he said, " last time, around this time, if I am remembering the dates correctly, I had called Qui-Gon for help and he informed me that the Temple was under attack."

"What do you mean, 'under attack'?" Ahsoka asked.

He shrugged, "It started out as vandalism, followed by theft, and then Xanatos, my Master's other Padawan, converted one of the initiates to the Dark Side, and proceeded to try to assassinate Yoda."

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"He got rather close, all things considered, he was using the waterways to get in and out of the Temple undetected, he also put some of Temple's artefacts in the main energy source of the Temple which might very well have levelled the building."

"Are you kidding me!" she exclaimed, "You're telling me this has been done before!?"

He smiled softly, "Xanatos was a prodigy, not unlike Anakin, but far less capable."

"So we have to go there now to help them," Rex stated.

Obi-Wan turned his gaze to the stars, "And how are we going to explain Ahsoka's training?"

"You taught me," she said at once.

He turned back to her with a smile, "You flatter me, but that wouldn't make much sense, we would have a maximum of four to five months together. We need to come up with a larger plan. We have the opportunity of a lifetime, we can attempt to change the outcome of the war before it even has the chance to begin."

"We could stop our brothers from being born," Cody said.

Rex turned on him, "What? You want to kill our brothers?"

"No, I want to spare sentients from being created for the sole purpose of war. I don't regret being born but I do regret all the brothers we lost, and I regret even more all those younglings of ours who were on Kamino. That wasn't a life, and war shouldn't be better than one's childhood."

Rex sighed, "We didn't have a childhood."

Cody gestured as he said, "Exactly."

Obi-Wan was both happy Cody and Rex were opening up more, as well as thoroughly disappointed with himself for the part he played in their lives. "Anakin won't be born for another few years and neither will you three for almost a decade," he told them, "If this is the path you want to take, then we do have time."

"What are we going to do about Anakin?" Ahsoka asked, "I know his induction wasn't normal."

Obi-Wan stroked his bare chin, which brought him little comfort, "I don't know how to find Anakin's mother, she could be almost anywhere in the galaxy. But once Anakin is born, I could find him."

"So that leaves Dooku and Darth Maul," Ahsoka said.

"And Asajj Ventress," Rex said.

Ahsoka frowned, "I wasn't lying when I said she helped me. I wish I knew how she ended up with Dooku."

Obi-Wan suddenly straightened, "She's on Rattack, we could go save her right now."

Cody gave him a hard look, "Save her from what?"

"Ky Nerac, he was a Jedi Knight who went rogue, he wasn't a Dark Sider, but he was unstable. When Asajj showed up, the Council did some digging. He killed her slave owner and raised her as his Padawan and when he died, she spiralled. Or at least, that's what we were led to believe, and that's when Dooku found her."

"So she's a Padawan?" Cody asked.

"She's a five year old," Obi-Wan answered.

Rex simply turned and started plugging in the coordinates for Rattatak.

Obi-Wan hid a smile, the more time he spent with them, away from their own timeline, the more their Mandalorian heritage shone through.

"But what about the Temple?" Ahsoka asked.

"We have some time," he said, "I'm more concerned with what we are going to tell them about you."

Cody shook his head, "What about Darth Maul and Dooku?"

"Dooku is still a Master Jedi," Obi-Wan said, "And I'm not entirely certain, but Maul is about my age. I haven't the faintest idea where he might be now. It's their unknown Sith Master who is the real problem."

"And quite possibly their Master," Ahsoka offered, squaring her feet as they made the jump to lightspeed.

Obi-Wan suppressed a shiver, that was not a happy thought. "We need to warn the Order that the Sith are back. But they won't believe me, an outsider or Mandalorians."

"Then what would the Council believe?" Ahsoka asked a tad bitterly.

He shook his head, "I don't know, they didn't quite believe Qui-Gon when he first told him we found Maul on Tatooine."

"As much as your people despair of politicians, that is what your Council is," Rex said.

Obi-Wan sighed, "I can't even say you're wrong, not completely."

Ahsoka glared at the white stripes of hyperspace, "What if I told them Darth Maul was my Master?"

He raised his brows, "You could be imprisoned."

"Are they really that paranoid right now?"

Cody glanced back at her, "He just said the Grandmaster was almost assassinated."

"Yeah, but I'm a Light Sider, I mean I have a temper but-"

"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan interrupted, "That story won't hold water, it also might lead them to believe that the Sith aren't as dangerous as they are. What good would come from this ruse?"

"It would draw them out," Rex said, "All the Sith I've met are prideful gundarks. And wasn't the reveal of the Sith a huge deal? There hadn't even been confirmed rumours about the Sith, correct?"

Obi-Wan nodded even as he pressed his lips together. Mulling it over, even a description of Maul would limit the Sith's mobility some, and Rex was absolutely right, the assured sighting of a Sith would be a big deal.

Especially with the four of them confirming the sighting.

"So what would you do if you were pressed for details about your training with Darth Maul, details you don't have?" he asked.

She crossed her arms and sunk a bit in her seat, she gave him dark eyes, a perfect imitation of Anakin at his worst, and said, "I don't want to discuss it."

Rex snorted.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "Alright, you're stubborn, but do you think you can keep that up for years?"

"I don't know, do you think you can keep up playing a teenager for years?" she asked.

He shifted uncomfortably, "I don't think pretending is really an option." He could already tell that his body hormonal imbalances were going to tamper with even his connection to the Force, "And as far as my personality changes go. Well, apparently, I've brought peace to a planet, befriended Mandalorian warriors, and encountered a Sith."

And maybe some Zygerrians.

He knew he should have Cody check him over because when Obi-Wan had first taken a shower in this new life, he had found that his scars had inexplicably followed him through time and all points of constellations of logic. The burn from lightsabers, the blaster grazes, and the marks of torture afforded him by the Zygerrian slaver painted across his flesh. Of course, they weren't exactly the same, because his body was smaller, and he hadn't examined them all to really know if they were only surface damage.

Part of him had been annoyed, and a part of him had been grateful. There was nothing nice about the scars, but they were proof of the person he was on the inside, proof of the twenty-five years that had been stripped from him.

Rex let out a breath, "Being called a Mandalorian is going to be such a step up from 'clone'."

"Until people start calling you twins," Ashoka said with a cheeky smile.

"We are adopting you both," Cody said.

"Excuse me?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Foundlings, its something Jango told us about. You and Ahsoka are orphans, and by the Mandalorian Code, that makes you ours until we return you to your families."

Obi-Wan shook his head even as Ahsoka leaned forward in her seat, "And what if we don't want to go home?"

"Then you're ours until you reach adulthood."

Obi-Wan hummed, "Actually, that would be perfect. The two of you saved Ahsoka from Darth Maul, and then you found me on Melida/Daan to help me with that crisis. I'm not sure how the Council would react to that, Mandalorians and Jedi don't exactly have the most amiable relations."

"What would they do if we refused to give up custody of you to the Order?" Rex asked.

Obi-Wan was slightly irked that he had to play the minor, even if thirteen was considered old enough in most parts of the galaxy, but he let the feeling go to the Force as he said, "I'm not really sure, I was theirs first and they aren't going to want to let Ahsoka out of their sight if she is possibly a Sith Apprentice."

"Well," Cody said, "It isn't like we were ever in the habit of simplifying our lives before."

Rex nodded, "Why start now?"

Ahsoka grinned at them both, "Yep, definitely twins."

Cody frowned at her, "I'm older."

Obi-Wan huffed, "I'm older than you all and yet that doesn't seem to matter," then he tacked on, "Dads."

Cody afforded him a rare smile, and Rex's rumbling laughter let them all forget the chaos they were soaring towards.

* * *

Cody wasn't really sure what had driven him to claim both his General and Commander Tano as his and Rex's foundlings, but he was pretty sure it had come from the desire to have a place in this galaxy that no longer needed them.

Also that fierce protective instinct he felt came over him anytime he looked at his General in his new vulnerable form, especially whenever Obi-Wan tripped over his own feet.

Like now.

Cody caught his arm and pulled him behind shelter as another pirate band ran down the streets with brandished weapons.

Calling Obi-Wan by his first name was new, but it came easy, given how different he was now, even his voice.

"Doesn't this bring back wonderful memories?" Rex asked as the four of them pressed themselves into the shadows.

Ahsoka huffed, "Obi-Wan, can you sense Ventress or are we running blind?"

He shook his head, "I can feel her, and Ky too, I think."

"Let me guess," Cody said dryly, "palace?"

Obi-Wan nodded, his Padawan braid swaying with the gesture, though he had removed the ponytail in the back.

"Roof?" Ahsoka asked.

"We have cables," Rex offered.

Obi-Wan sucked in a breath, "Let's move."

Together, they managed to make it to the palace unseen.

"Stealth missions are easier without Anakin," Ahsoka said as they reached the roof, seeing the view of red and orange bare stone mountain ranges around them.

"Mind if I borrow one of your lightsabres?" Obi-Wan asked.

She tossed him the longer one, "Carefully not to cut yourself."

"Ha ha," he said dryly as they ignited the green and yellow-green blades to cut a hole in the roof.

Dropping down, the two young Jedi extinguished their lightsabres, yet the unmistakable sound of a lightsabre humming remained, as someone was slicing through Weequey pirates.

They crept forward, and Cody was dreading seeing a youngling being forced to fight.

But as they approached what appeared to be a throne room, large windows casting the room in a warm light from the mountains, Cody's fears were alleviated when he spotted the little Dathomirian female weeping at the shoulder of one Weequey male.

Cody passed his helmet to Obi-Wan as he crept forward when the blue eyed child looked up at him. She froze as he knelt, the sound of a sabre slashing and blaster fire encompassing this quiet moment between them.

"Hello, my name is Cody. Are you Asajj Ventress?"

She blinked back tears then nodded slowly, "Daddy not getting up."

Her father?

Her slaver, he realized, a surge of anger rushing through his blood, but he didn't let it show on his face as he slowly held his hand out to her, "I'm sorry, honey, but we need to get you somewhere safe."

"Quiet?" she asked.

That safe and quiet were interchangeable in her world wasn't a good sign.

He nodded then coaxed, "Yes, away from the loud people."

She ran to him, and he wrapped his arm around her. She weighed nothing as she wrapped her white arms around his neck.

This little girl would one day take hundreds, if not thousands of his brothers' lives, but right at that moment, he would have died a thousand times over for her.

It also turned out to be one of the first missions they managed in complete stealth.

Ahsoka might have had a point about General Skywalker.

* * *

"You miss him," Tahl observed as Qui-Gon paced the room in long strides, the breeze of his large form shifting the air of the entire room.

"We weren't together long enough for me to miss him," the stubborn man retorted.

"And yet," she said lightly, "You knew exactly who I was talking about."

He froze, and she smirked, no longer able to see the dark sapphire blue of his eyes but still able to imagine his expression. He sighed, "It doesn't matter, he's the one who chose to leave. Besides, we have other things to worry about. At least I know Obi-Wan will not end up like Xanatos."

"Are you so sure it is him?" she prodded.

"Yes," he said flatly.

"We don't have any more leads, Bruck's friends haven't shared anything of worth with us."

"I know it's him, Tahl."

She put down her datapad, "Qui-Gon, call him."

"He left me."

"And you left him," she shot back.

"What would you have done?"

"Grabbed him by the ear and drowned him in hours meditation homework, and if I was feeling mean about it, I would have thrown Yoda at him."

Qui-Gon sank down on the sofa beside her. "He turned against me."

"He's young and he didn't do what he did to betray you. He wanted to help others. By the Force, Qui-Gon, that was his first exposure to war, and his fellow soldiers were his age or younger. Can you really blame him for wanting to stay and help?"

"He risked your life," he said quietly.

She reached for his hand, and he caught hers where she would have smacked his knee. She squeezed, her smaller hand almost lost in his, "I risked my own life, and I would have given it gladly if my death could have ended that war. A people torn not just in civil war, but by elders against their own children."

"Do you think I should go back for him?" he asked.

"The better question, Qui-Gon, is do you?"

He was silent for a moment before a ping of an incoming call came to her pad. She picked it up even as TooJay announced, "Incoming call."

"No kriffing way," she exclaimed in mock surprise, "if only there were a sound to inform- Oh wait, my datapad _is_ ringing."

TooJay chirped, "Happy to be of service, Mistress."

She was going to assassinate Yoda herself for cursing her with this 'assistant' droid.

She tapped twice on the pad to accept the call, that she knew was just a voice message and not a hologram by the three trills as the frequency clicked over, which she found herself being grateful for. It didn't matter in person, because she could hear and feel a person's presence, but over a hologram... she would have been truly seen and unable to see.

"This is Tahl."

"Hello, Master Tahl," the last voice she had been expecting to hear answered, "this is Obi-Wan Kenobi, how are you?"

She felt Qui-Gon go painfully still at her side.

"As well as can be, Obi-Wan. How are you?" _and why are you calling me and not your Master?_

Not that Qui-Gon wasn't hanging on his lost apprentice's every word.

"I'm fine. Are you healing alright?" he asked.

"I am," she said, not informing him about her new disability.

"I'm glad to hear it. I wanted to apologize to you personally. I'm not sure if Qui-Gon told you, but I borrowed his starship to make a raid and then I further delayed him. I'm sorry for endangering you."

Her heart warmed, and she smiled, yet she could feel Qui-Gon's sorrow beside him.

Obi-Wan Kenobi would make a great Jedi Knight.

And they both knew it.

"Apology accepted, my young friend. How goes things on Melida/Daan?"

He chuckled, "Well, their new parliament and Prime Minister haven't reverted to shooting each other yet since I left, so relatively speaking, rather good."

She blinked and she felt Qui-Gon's breath hitch as he leaned into her as if he meant to speak but when he didn't, she asked, "Parliament, do you mean you ended the war? And you left?"

Bantha-balls, _she_ had nearly died trying to bring that planet to peace, but give this Padawan, still wet behind the ears, a few months and he solves it?

"I had help," he admitted, "I was actually hoping to meet with you. I have some news the Order should know and I don't want to overstep boundaries by just waltzing into the Temple, not after how I left things with Master Jinn."

Qui-Gon sucked in a sharp breath.

But Tahl asked, "Is it something to do with the attack on the Temple?"

"What?" Obi-Wan asked sharply, his voice cracking sounded painful, "There has been an attack on the Temple? Is everyone alright?"

"What news did you have?" she asked.

"Um, nothing to do with that, I was on Rattatak and found a Force sensitive youngling. As well as Ky Nerac, I didn't speak to him though, he was slaughtering pirates at the time."

Despite not being able to see, she still felt herself exchanging a look with Qui-Gon.

Knight Ky Nerac had been a part of their year, and also…

"Ky Nerac is dead."

"Not so much," he said lightly, "But like I said, I didn't stop to talk with him. But the youngling's guardians wanted to speak with someone before turning the girl over to the Temple."

"She might not be accepted, Padawan," she warned him.

"Um," he said, "I'm not a trained Seeker, and I found her."

_Point._

"Are you on Coruscant?"

"I am, I can give you my coordinates."

"Obi-Wan?" she asked. She knew that what she was about to do was cruel as he didn't know that Qui-Gon could hear them, but that didn't stop her. "Why did you contact me instead of Qui-Gon or the Council?"

"Because the Council wouldn't listen to me just so they could prove a point that I am no longer 'one of them' and because I failed Qui-Gon."

Qui-Gon flinched, the entire sofa jolting a bit from the motion.

"Forgiveness cannot be offered if you do not ask," she said gently.

"You don't understand, Master Tahl. Master Jinn never wanted me, not since the beginning, and just when he was starting to overcome his issues about Xanatos, I betrayed him too. What we had can't be fixed." There was sorrow so deep, so paulable in his voice, Tahl found herself blinking back tears.

How could a boy his age hurt this deeply? Children were impulsive, he should have been supplying justifications or being morosely dramatic.

He offered neither, he sounded like a man twice his age, facing a hard truth.

What had Qui-Gon done to this Padawan who had been short tempered and naive?

Had the war changed him so rapidly?

"Send your coordinates," she said, "and I'll be there soon, Padawan."

"Thank you, Master Tahl, may the Force be with you."

"And with you."

The call ended and she waited for Qui-Gon to speak.

He didn't.

She sighed, "Was he right? One mistake and his whole life is over because you're an obstinate Bantha?"

"Tahl."

"Don't Tahl me, Obi-Wan Kenobi is not Xanatos, what does he have to do to prove that to you, _die_ for you?"

"He left, and he didn't ask to come back."

"No, he just did what you and I couldn't, two fullfeldged Masters, and _he_ is the one who brought peace to the entire system, then found himself in Force knows what kind of trouble and found a youngling that the Seekers had overlooked in the far Outer Rim."

"I can't believe Ky Narec-"

"Qui-Gon!" she all but shouted.

He sighed, "I'm coming with you, but I'm not making any promises."

"Sure, and that's what you said about not taking him as Padawan in the first place."

_Master Jinn never wanted me._

Qui-Gon most have heard that echo too, because he said, "I don't think I understood how much I hurt him. Maybe…" he sighed, "Maybe if I hadn't fed his doubts, then maybe there wouldn't have been such a misunderstanding, such a distance between us, then maybe he would have listened. I failed him as much as he failed me."

"No, Qui-Gon, he did not fail at all, you did. Xanatos was nearly an adult when he gave into his selfish pursuits. Obi-Wan wasn't even being selfish, he might very well have sacrificed his life to try and save those people as I almost did."

He put a large hand on her shoulder, "Where would I be without you?"

She smiled, "May the galaxy never know."

* * *

Obi-Wan was waiting at the rendezvous point, wrestling his nerves as he knew that Tahl was more than likely going to bring Qui-Gon with her.

But Tahl listened in ways that he trusted almost no other Master in the Order to, and he was going to have to convince her of quite the tale.

He sighed, the others had left Obi-Wan alone to meditate while they went out with Youngling Asajj to a sweets shop a few blocks down.

It wasn't until he felt a darkness in the Force that he realized the parallel of his being lightsabreless.

He lurched out of his meditation pose, but his reflexes weren't what they would be, nor was he the same height and weight as he would be.

Everything about him felt different, yet his mind still wanted to be the thirty year old Master, it was a deadly conflict between mind and body, and it gave Xanatos the decided advantage as he came up behind him with cuffs and a red lightsabre at his throat.

"Poor Kenobi," Xanatos purred in his ear, "the Padawan Qui-Gon _never_ wanted. I must say that is a distinct difference between us."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and cursed as he was kidnapped by this laughable excuse of a Dark Sider.

Why did this kind of thing keep happening to him?

* * *

AN: Throw a thought or feedback to your witcher?


	3. Footwork

Breaking News: Nauze has betaed another chapter, _what!?_ Much thanks :)

Chapter 3 - Footwork

Qui-Gon found himself stretching to find peace within the Force as they walked, but the Living Force was a rippling cacophony of emotions and possibility.

Something inexorably large had happened or was about to happen within the Force itself.

"If you ask him back, he will return," Tahl offered.

He sighed, frustrated with himself, because a part of him wanted Obi-Wan to ask, but after hearing the apology he had given Tahl, and his own insights on their Padawan and Master relation, he didn't need any more confirmation that Obi-Wan Kenobi was destined for Knighthood.

After all, everyone made mistakes, it was how one came back from them that defined a person.

Xanatos had turned into a power-hungry, murderous enigma.

Obi-Wan had continued the work of the Jedi.

No, Qui-Gon wanted Obi-Wan back, and maybe the trust that had been broken between them, something that had existed more because of the expectations of their culture rather than them truly knowing each other; something new and stronger could grow.

Like new shoots from a forest burned to ash, rich soil, deeper roots, more beautiful perhaps for having been grown despite the flames before.

So it was with this mindset, an apology from his heart, an offer of a new start between them that they arrived at the rendezvous spot, a park in an upper-class shopping district.

But the bench Obi-Wan had said he would be at was empty.

And in his place was a note scrawled on a flimsy.

"Where is he?" Tahl asked, her voice tinged with concern.

Qui-Gon read the note aloud, "Hello Jinn, I have taken the one you left behind. Better hurry, who knows how long his sanity will last. -X."

She sucked in a sharp breath, "How?"

Qui-Gon's mind was spinning as he tried to think where Xanatos could have taken Obi-Wan.

"Where is he?"

Qui-Gon turned, startled at the voice and the sight before him. Two white armoured Mandalorians stood to either side of a young Togruta female, and the Mandalorian with blue on his armour had a young Dathomirian female on his shoulder. Her hands were sticky with some sort of sweet that was leaving rainbow smudges on the Mandalorian's helmet.

Both the Togruta and the youngling shone in the Force like bright stars.

The orange-striped Mandalorian asked, "Where is Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

Qui-Gon was speechless, finding out his Padawan had just been kidnapped, then confronted by a Mandalorian of all people?

"Who are you?" Tahl asked.

"His father."

Qui-Gon shook his head, "What? How would Obi-Wan even have found you?"

"We found him," the other Mando said in a voice that sounded strangely similar to the first, Tahl shifted at Qui-Gon's side, "he's our foundling."

Well, that made more sense, still, Qui-Gon shook his head, "Obi-Wan is a Jedi."

The Togruta snorted, "Yeah, until you abandoned him. Where is he?"

Qui-Gon's hand twitched around the flimsy, and the Togruta, who he now noticed had two lightsabres, one on either hip, used the Force to pull the flimsy from his hand.

She read it silently as TooJay began to say, "Two Mandalorians, a Togruta Jedi, and a youngling. They appear aggressive."

"Xanatos took Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said.

The orange Mando cursed, "This is what I get for leaving him on his own."

"Aggression confirmed," TooJay said, "Initiating defence protocols."

"TooJay wait-" Tahl warned the silly droid.

But no sooner had a panel opened up on the thing's middle, did the orange Mando pull his blaster and shoot the droid at its mechanical centre. The droid went down with a surprised beep.

The youngling yelled, "Loud!" and smacked her small hand down on the other Mando's head.

He reached up to give her leg a light squeeze, "Sorry, little one, it was a bad droid."

Tahl sighed and muttered, "Thanks, Mando."

"My name is Cody. Tano, where is Obi-Wan?"

The Togruta, Tano, opened her eyes, she must have been communing with the Force, he realized.

She said, "He's in the Temple."

"Who are you?" Qui-Gon asked, "And how could you know he is in the Temple? It isn't possible that you have that deep a connection with him."

Qui-Gon's own bond with Obi-Wan wasn't strong enough for that.

Tano gave him a steady gaze, her blue eyes contrasting dramatically against her orange skin and white markings.

Cody stepped forward, "We don't have time for this. Will you allow us access to the Temple to search for him?"

Tahl had already turned back to the transport they had taken here, "We can talk on the way."

Qui-Gon followed even as he said, "We don't even know who you are."

Cody pointed to his fellows, "Rex, on his shoulders is Asajj Ventress, and this is Co- my apologies, Ahsoka Tano."

Co? What had he been about to call her?

Ahsoka sat on the floor plating, crossing her legs and closing her eyes and Qui-Gon felt her power as she reached out into the Force.

No one spoke as she searched for Obi-Wan in a way that should have been impossible for someone who had only known him for a few months.

When she finally opened her eyes they were arriving at the Temple.

"You alright, Tano?" Rex asked her.

She nodded, her gaze a bit distant, "He's frustrated but not hurt. And he's in the lowest levels of the Temple."

"How did you come to meet Obi-Wan?" Tahl asked as they approached the gates, two of the Temple guards stepping forward, ready to scan them.

"Melida/Daan," Cody said, "he needed our help, we gave it. And you can tell them to save their breath, I'm not giving up my weapons."

Qui-Gon was quite through with feeling guilty. This entire mess was his fault, from Xanatos's fall to the Dark Side to Obi-Wan having to rely on Mandalorians.

"Blasters won't help you against Jedi," one of the Guard said.

Ahsoka snorted, "Clearly, you haven't been in enough battles if you think that's true."

"We cannot allow you to bring weapons into the Temple," the Guard said without acknowledging her statement.

Cody shook his head, "You allowed a spy droid to follow you around, I think our weapons are necessary."

_TooJay had been a spy?_

Tahl grabbed his sleeve, "That's how he knew where Obi-Wan would be."

"I vouch for them," Qui-Gon said, the Living Force whispering the urgency of the moment to him, something was wrong, more wrong than just Obi-Wan being in danger.

The Guard stared at Ahsoka Tano, and she crossed her arms to glare at them, "What?"

"We don't know you, we know all the Jedi of this Temple."

She raised her brows, "Omni-present the Force is, but you, are not."

"I vouch for them as well," Tahl said.

The Guard sighed, "Very well."

Ahsoka dropped her arms and broke into a run. They all followed and Qui-Gon wondered at her knowledge of the layout of the Temple when the Guard said they didn't recognize her.

He didn't either, but he couldn't say that he knew every current Padawan. He might have pressed the issue, but he needed to find Obi-Wan and her Force presence was as bright as it was powerful.

He trusted the Force to give him insight into these turn of events.

Ahsoka came to an abrupt halt at the elevators. Slowing, she hesitated between the turbolifts.

Tahl shifted, "I feel fear."

Qui-Gon extended his own senses, and he felt it too.

There was a distant sound of high pitched screaming, and the Mandalorians sprinted. Asajj being swept into her Mando's arms off his shoulder as they ran.

Qui-Gon gasped as he saw one of the lifts in free fall, he ran to the edge of the platform, throwing his hands out along with Tahl and Ahsoka.

It should have been difficult, but Ahsoka was practised in working with others so that the Force flowed freely between the three of them.

"Tano," Rex said.

She nodded.

The Mando passed Asajj to Cody. Rex grabbed one of her sabres off her hip as he extended his other arm and a small technical marvel shot out wrapping around one of the beams that supported the shafts. The turbolifts were built into some of the oldest structures of the building so the scaffolding that had been constructed was separate from the stones.

Rex let himself swing to the beam that was even with where they held the lift.

Tahl, unable to see the elegance of this non-Jedi, called into her com for back up.

Rex knocked on the turbolift, "Standback, I'm going to make an opening."

Someone responded but Qui-Gon could make out the voice from here.

The Mando used Ahsoka's lightsaber, a green-yellow beam, to cut a hole through the turboshaft and lift.

"Tano," Rex called, "Time."

"Thirty minutes," she said.

Qui-Gon gritted his teeth, he did not have thirty minutes in him, but where he was starting to feel the strain, the Togruta just looked focused.

"Cody, be ready to catch us," he called as three younglings came to him by the gentle urgings of Master Ali-Alann.

Rex got the three little ones to cling to his neck and armour, the reach of his arm enough to pin them to his chest as he prepared to swing back.

"Ready?" Rex asked the younglings, who were maybe three or four year olds, "We're going to swing."

The younglings clung to him.

Qui-Gon steadied his focus to keep the lift still as he was sure the younglings were about to make a fuss, but the Mandalorian surprised him.

As he leaned back then propelled himself forward, he cried out in a joyous tone, "Wheeee!"

The younglings did scream, but not from fear but startled excitement as they soared through the air. Rex landed lightly, kneeling to let the children go, he urged them toward Cody.

The three nearly tackled the man as they all tried to tell him their stories and ask if they could go again.

Rex was already swinging back as Cody said, "Everyone needs a turn."

Qui-Gon was sweating by the time that Rex had returned with the last youngling and Master Ali-Alann, the girl Rex was holding having argued about wanting to 'swing' not jump.

Cody had ten younglings piled on him, plus Asajj, who was alternating between being shy and bossing the younger ones about as she told them _exactly_ who Cody was.

And Cody was apparently _Marshal Commander_ Cody, which Qui-Gon didn't quite know what to make of.

Where were these Mandalorians from that they had military rank? Or was the youngling simply telling tall tales?

This is when Mace and Sifo-Dyas showed up and the three of them who had been holding the lift, let it fall.

"What happened? And who are they?" Mace asked.

Qui-Gon took in a shaky breath, "We need to find Obi-Wan."

Mace looked at him, "He's back on Coruscant?"

Sifo-Dyas was already looking over the edge of the platform at the lifts.

Rex gave Ahsoka back her lightsabre as she began walking toward the lift she had first been heading toward.

Master Ali-Alann was helping get Cody free of the younglings, and Cody was telling Asajj to stay with the group and that they would be back soon.

Mace stepped in front of Ahsoka, "Who are you? I know every Jedi in this Order and I don't know you."

Ahsoka sidestepped him, not something many people had the resolution to do, as she said, "I'm not a Jedi."

She was at the lift and Qui-Gon was at Mace's side, stopping him from stopping her, "Xanatos has taken Obi-Wan, she knows where he is."

"And if she's leading you into a trap?"

Master Ali-Alann called, "They helped save us, they have earned a bit of our trust, I think."

Mace hesitated a moment, his face stern, but he gave a short nod of consent even as Ahsoka, Tahl, and the Mandos were already stepping on the lift.

"Alright," the Vapaad Master said, "but we will talk afterwards."

Qui-Gon sprinted to get into the lift before the doors closed.

"Are you sure you know where he is?" he couldn't help asking as he watched the numbers of the levels descend with them.

"Yep," she said, "how long has Xanatos been a Dark Sider?"

"Five years," he said.

"Was he knighted?" she asked.

"He would have been," he said, bitterness colouring his voice despite himself.

"How much information did he have about the Sith arts?"

Tahl and Qui-Gon whipped their heads to look at the Togruta. Though Tahl's beautiful green-gold eyes were sightless, her expression was a mirror of his own.

"Sith?" he repeated, "No, I mean, he gave into the Dark Side of the Force, but there aren't any Sith in existence, and there hasn't been for a thousand years."

Why had this young female spoke of the Sith so lightly?

"And Xanatos was never much of a scholar," Tahl said.

"Well, there's something," Rex said, "But fallen Jedi can be as twisted as the Sith, and more feral."

"Maul was feral," Ahsoka argued.

"He was smart enough to take over a planet, Pong Krell was simply… processed."

Qui-Gon frowned, "Ar- wait, are you suggesting that you've met Force users who claimed to be Sith?"

Ahsoka merely shrugged.

_Kriffing teenage females._

"Pong Krell is one of Knights," Tahl said.

"That's unfortunate," Cody remarked.

The lift pinged to the second to last floor, ending the conversation as they all began to creep forward.

There should have been light on this level, but a torchlight further down the tunnel was lit.

Qui-Gon heard their voices long before they reached the mouth of the passage.

"Don't you hate him?" Xanatos's silky words probed.

"Why should I hate him?" Obi-Wan asked back civilly, "I'm the one who wasn't good enough."

Another wave of guilt washed over Qui-Gon even as Xanatos bellowed, "He destroyed your future!"

"I'm the one who left," Obi-Wan said in the same tone, not a whisper of fear in his voice even as they heard the ignition of a taser prong.

Qui-Gon felt a surge of pride at the boy's bravery.

"By the time you are found, you won't know your own name, and Qui-Gon will only come to keep up appearances. He doesn't care about you."

Obi-Wan let out a short laugh, "Of course he cares, he's a mystic of the Living Force, so long as I breathe, he will care for me. Just as he cares for you."

Qui-Gon wasn't sure if that was a compliment given the circumstances.

"You think you're so wise, little Padawan?"

"Wiser than you," Obi-Wan said lightly, "but that isn't a high bar."

Xanatos growled, and there was the sound of electricity touching flesh.

They were finally in sight of them, as they took cover in the archway.

Obi-Wan was strung by his hands in an energy field, his body was arched as Xanatos pressed the prong against his side.

"Scream! Damn you!" Xanatos roared.

But Obi-Wan did not scream. When Xanatos pulled back the prong, he slumped but met his captor's gaze lucidly before drawling, "Ow."

Qui-Gon's breath caught, _Is he making a joke at his own torture?_

He knew the boy had a sense of humour, but he didn't think this was the time for levity.

"Are you mocking me, _failure?_ " Xanatos asked darkly, coming closer to Obi-Wan, holding the prong menacingly.

Obi-Wan lips curled in a pleasant smile.

By the Force, either the boy was stronger than he had ever imagined, or perhaps he had already snapped.

And then with blurring speed, Obi-Wan brought his legs up and even as Xanatos fell back, Obi-Wan managed to kick him twice, once square in the face and the other catching Xanatos shoulder so that he twisted as he fell.

Obi-Wan called out, "Tahl! He put the stolen relics in the energy system, if the ventilation system is reset, it will cause an explosion!"

Tahl didn't need telling twice as she sprinted back toward the turbolift, Rex going with her.

It was only then that Qui-Gon noticed that the other Mando had moved, focused as he had been on Obi-Wan and Xanatos.

Initiate Bruck let out a cry as the Mando had snuck up behind him, catching the boy's sabre hand and twisting so the hilt clattered to the ground. Cody was wise not to underestimate him as he brought the boy down to the ground, pinning him as Bruck struggled, "Get off me!"

Qui-Gon was moving forward, but Ahsoka was faster.

Much faster.

Xanatos barely had time to get to his feet, his bloody face shocked under the light of her sabres as the Togruta attacked him with her green and yellow sabres.

Qui-Gon had his own sabre in his hand but he just stopped to watch.

Xanatos wasn't Qui-Gon's equal, but he was still a notable dueller.

Ahsoka Tano was something else entirely.

He had only ever seen Mace and his own Master, Dooku use such aggression paired with such grace.

Padawans and eager young knights could fight with showiness and aggressive swipes. But this female was predatory, and each swipe of her sabres could have taken a limb or Xanatos's life.

Xanatos, in contrast, was unsteady, his footwork always having been somewhat sloppy and slow, but he made up for it by drawing from the Dark Side of the Force, grunting as he tried to kill his opponent.

Yet to compare the two seemed laughable. Ahsoka was lithe grace, her every step, her every leap, gaining ground on Xanatos. Where he grew more desperate, more emotional, she remained serious and collected despite her immense speed and lethal strikes.

The Dark Side made Xanatos stronger than he was naturally.

But Ahsoka Tano was simply the stronger Force user; the better Knight.

Within the Order, they did not train their students to kill, and between lightsabre wielders, with very, very rare exceptions, they were only trained to duel.

Watching Ahsoka wear away at Xanatos's every effort so that he was forced to go on the defensive, Qui-Gon thought that she had been trained differently.

Shaking himself, Qui-Gon went to Obi-Wan, who had been watching the duel with interest.

"Obi-Wan," he breathed, relieved beyond measure that the boy was alive and conscious.

But where Obi-Wan had hardly reacted to being electrocuted, he flinched in his restraints away from Qui-Gon.

When his blue eyes met his own, the boy's expression was perfectly blank, "Master Jinn."

Qui-Gon wasn't sure how to respond to that bland tone, but he ignited his own sabres to cut his restraints.

He instantly put an arm around his Padawan's waist as he swayed a bit on his feet, the blood rushing back to his arms that were likely numb from being stretched above his head.

They both looked up in time to see Ahsoka kick Xanatos's red sabre out of his hand, "Your footwork," she said, "is terrible." Before kicking him in the head, and then again for good measure.

Xanatos collapsed to the ground, and she turned on them, keeping her sabres on likely for the extra light in the torchlit room, "Really, Obi-Wan, you let this pushover kidnap you? I'm disappointed."

He huffed, "I didn't have a lightsabre."

"You should have taken his," she said, as if that was simply done.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said wryly.

"Didn't you sense him?"

He shook his head, his braid falling over his shoulder, Qui-Gon felt a spark of hope that he had kept it, even as he said, "I was trying to meditate, but the Force was turbulent, I sensed him too late."

Bruck shouted from where the floor, "Who in the blazing suns are you!?"

The Togruta smiled at him, her pointed canines flashing in the flickering torchlight, "Padawan Ahsoka Tano."

Obi-Wan smiled, "So we're staying?"

Cody spoke, "Only if Rex and I remain with you. You're aren't allowed to be on your own anymore, Little General."

Ahsoka laughed, "Awe, Obi-Wan lost his privileges."

Obi-Wan muttered some choice phrases in Huttese that had Qui-Gon doing a double take.

Where had Obi-Wan learned Huttese?

Qui-Gon couldn't see Cody's face, but he was pretty sure the man was smiling as he said, "Now children."

This time when Obi-Wan swore at him it wasn't under his breath.

"Padawan!" Qui-Gon chastised, not even recognising the words he used.

Obi-Wan turned his head completely away from him, and grumbled, "Sorry."

Cody pulled a Bruck to his feet, the boy's shock of white hair appearing to glow in the cavern they were in. "Let's get these two to holding cells."

Qui-Gon realized that Bruck was cuffed, and was surprised when the Mandalorian tossed Ahsoka a second pair of binders.

Just what else did these Mandos keep on them?

Ahsoka cuffed Xanatos's unconscious form as if she wasn't unused to it. She bent and hefted the young man over her shoulder.

Whoever was responsible for her training hadn't been messing around.

Cody took the man from her as she shoved Bruck to the lifts, "Let's go."

"Oh joy," Obi-Wan said, "a Council meeting."

"You're going to the healers," Qui-Gon stated.

Obi-Wan didn't protest.

Cody laughed, "I guess you are his Master."

Obi-Wan rounded his shoulders.

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Yes?" he said without looking up.

Qui-Gon was about to ask him back into the Order, as his Padawan, but hesitated as the boy continued to refuse to meet his gaze. So instead he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Sure," he said.

Ahsoka reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, and Obi-Wan did meet her gaze. Her expression was one of compassion and understanding, speaking to a depth of a friendship and _knowing_ that was beyond Qui-Gon's relationship with Obi-Wan.

"We _will_ be alright," she said.

Obi-Wan gave her a gentle smile, "Thank you, Padawan."

He said it with reverence of a Master to a Padawan, even though the Togruta was clearly his senior.

But her smile was such that Qui-Gon was sure that praise from Obi-Wan meant more to her than he was grasping about their friendship.

"Seriously," Bruck muttered, "Who are you people? And since when are Mandalorians allowed in the Temple? And how does Oafy-Wan know them?"

Ahsoka cuffed the boy over the head, "Shut it, you're lucky Cody didn't blast you for hurting Obi-Wan."

Cody rumbled in a deep voice, "There's still time."

Bruck shrank away from them.

The rest of the way to the upper levels was passed in silence, awkward for Qui-Gon and Bruck, yet Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Cody stood peaceably, acting as if this was an everyday occurrence.

Business as usual.

Qui-Gon found himself echoing Initiate Bruck's words in his thoughts.

What had Obi-Wan gotten himself into in his, relatively speaking, brief exile?

* * *

AN: Another chapter, to be rewarded with reviews, perhaps? Please? It'll make me happy and inspire my thoughts to race onto screen :D


	4. Count

KEYnote: Sometimes they will slip up, but the elevator conversation was planned to some degree on our Quartet’s part. 

Nauze: Edited again!!!!! Much love!

Chapter 4 - Count

Qui-Gon was alive.

Qui-Gon was  _ alive. _

And the man was half holding Obi-Wan up as he struggled to put one foot in front of the other.

But Force help him, if electrocution wasn’t as painful as being this near to his old Master.

A man who didn’t have an inkling of who he had become or the history they shared.

Obi-Wan couldn’t even bear looking at that all too familiar face. He could feel Qui-Gon’s worry as well as his quiet reassurance.

Apparently, they had done enough in changing the timeline that Qui-Gon appeared willing to forgive him for leaving the Order.

But that’s not what was making Obi-Wan sick to his stomach.

It was his fault that Qui-Gon had died. His fault his ageing Master had faced a Sith alone.

Just as it had been his fault that Satine had died in the same fashion.

Additionally, if Obi-Wan dug a little deeper into his own ocean of faults and hurts, he was angry with Qui-Gon.

Angry that this man had shoved him aside for Anakin and then had the audacity to have his worries over the kriffing ‘Chosen One’ be his last words as he died in Obi-Wan’s arms.

He wasn’t jealous of Anakin, not as his apprentice had time and time again accused him of being.

No, the issues were solely between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan was simply hurt that after twelve years of trials, of venturing the galaxy, of facing life and death together, that he hadn’t been good enough for Qui-Gon.

That he had failed in earning the man’s respect, of the common courtesy of graduating him to Knighthood before taking another apprentice.

‘ _ You’re a much wiser man than I. _ ’

What Bantha-shite had that been?

Then to be saddled with an apprentice who hadn’t been raised within the Order? Qui-Gon might have been a kriffing maverick, but he hadn’t been.

Obi-Wan’s way of acting out against Qui-Gon had been to be overtly rule-abiding in his later teen years. By the time that he was expected to train Anakin, he probably knew the Temple’s etiquettes better than Yoda.

Anakin, meanwhile, was still adjusting to the new confines of the rigorous demands of the Jedi Knight commitments while coming to terms with being a freeman.

Obi-Wan had tried his best to help, but the karking Chancellor had had more understanding of how to help Anakin than he had. Yet Palpatine had been a mentor who Obi-Wan had been able to approve of fully, knowing that such a man of political power had been angling to use Anakin, ‘The Chosen One’ later on.

Of course, whenever he dared voice his doubts about Palpatine to Anakin, the boy had all but lost his mind at Obi-Wan.

In the end, Anakin had grown up to be quite the man and Jedi Knight, one that Obi-Wan was proud to have known and have mentored. Yet all things being equal, Obi-Wan had sacrificed his own freedom to define who he would be, to define what kind of Knight in his adulthood he had  _ wanted _ to be. He instead had to shape himself to fit the needs of his Padawan. Because in the end, he had to put Anakin first.

Anakin always came first.

But now, Anakin hadn't even been born and Obi-Wan had the chance to put himself first.

Did he want to rejoin the Jedi, knowing what the Order would stoop to when the Republic began turning on itself? Or did he think they could change their fates?

"We are almost there, Padawan," Qui-Gon encouraged him.

_ Padawan _ .

Qui-Gon had kept calling him that despite the Council or him being consulted.

Which was rather typical of Qui-Gon.

Obi-Wan was at least relieved that if he did decide to rejoin the Order, he wouldn't have to beg.

Because he wouldn't have, not again. He had humiliated himself in front of the Council last time around. Now that he saw himself as being one of them, he wasn't sure he could take being talked to that harshly, that dismissively again when they were his peers, when they had so recently talked to Ahsoka in their original time.

Cast Ahsoka out when they themselves had been in the wrong.

Neither was Obi-Wan certain if he could try again with Qui-Gon. The Master who had humiliated him in front of the entire Jedi High Council by denouncing him.

Of course, this was a subject he could not breach with the living Qui-Gon, no more than he could drop to this man’s feet and beg for his forgiveness for letting him die.

Qui-Gon wouldn’t understand, and if Obi-Wan had any say in it, he never would.

Master Che greeted him with a low hiss, “What happened to him?”

Cody, who had passed over Xanatos and Bruck to the Temple guard back at the lifts, answered for him, “He was tortured with an electric prong.”

Obi-Wan scoffed, “I would hardly call that torture. He clearly wanted to drag it out, but he had the power on too low. He didn’t know what he was doing.”

Master Che came to an abrupt halt, looking down at him with an unreadable expression as she asked, “Are you criticizing the way your tormenter has tortured you because it didn’t hurt enough?”

Qui-Gon didn’t say a word beside him, but he could feel his Master’s gaze boring a hole through his skull, likely trying to will Obi-Wan to look at him.

But Obi-Wan couldn’t do that, not without breaking down.

All his memories had remained with him, but his chemistry remained that of a hormonal teenager and he was struggling to maintain control over himself.

He had resorted to shoving his emotions down and give merely the excess to the Force.

Later, when he was alone and safe, and maybe with Cody guarding the door, he could let himself break.

But not now, not here, and never in front of Qui-Gon.

He had enough humiliation for a lifetime.

No. He realized.

He had aspired his entire life to be a Jedi. Yet every milestone seemed to mark a new bittersweet chapter.

He had become a Padawan, then become a Padawan with too many caveats to be listed.

He had become a Knight at the price of losing his Master and killing, mostly killing at any rate, a foe who would come years later to kill someone else dear to him.

He had gained an apprentice of his own, only not one of his choosing and one that his Grandmaster had protested against his training.

He had risen to the rank of Master because a war had started and he had reached an impasse with Anakin’s training.

He had been granted rank on the High Council member because he had a politician’s tongue and because he was skilled at war. Neither were attributes normally admired within the Order.

What did he really have to be proud of? And did he want to do it all again?

He realized with a shock, that he didn’t.

Not that he had anywhere else he wanted to go. He probably would have gone to Mandalore, a planet that was never dull, as it was always on the brink of civil war, but Duchess Satine was a child in this time. And it didn’t matter what age he was physically, he would always be twenty-six years older than her.

But not having anywhere else to go wasn’t a good enough reason to stay.

Ahsoka was, however.

She was still truly young, and though she had been jaded by the war, she might think differently on the Order when war was a long way off.

He would let her decide, if she truly wanted to stay, he wouldn’t abandon her.

Not again.

He closed his eyes, the weight of his mistakes pressing down on him like an avalanche.

Which is when Cody proved that he knew him better than almost anyone. 

“Alright, enough, he needs sleep and an I.V. It’s time for you to leave us, Master Jinn,” Cody said, taking Obi-Wan’s arm.

For a moment he was caught between the two men, two men who he realized were both bigger and more physically capable than he was.

Qui-Gon must have felt him instinctively pulling back toward Cody because he did let go over Obi-Wan’s waist and stepped back.

But he didn’t leave.

Cody stared at him, and Qui-Gon folded his arms.

Cody gave it another minute, and Master Che let them be as she set him up a bed.

Finally, Cody said, “Master Jinn, please take your leave.”

Qui-Gon’s voice was hard, “He’s my Padawan.”

“No, he isn’t, not formally, not anymore, and not yet. He is my foundling. By galactic law, he remains in my custody until I relinquish it to the Order.”

Qui-Gon stilled, “He was raised here.”

“Then you shouldn’t have left him in a warzone; you orphaned him, cut him off from any dependable community because the majority of the Jedi do not have kin to return to.”

Cody didn’t realize how right he was. Obi-Wan remembered how things had originally played out on Melida/Daan, and the day Cerasi died, the rest of the children had turned on him.

He had been almost completely alone because as much as he belonged to their army, he hadn’t belonged to their people.

Master Che stepped forward, “Obi-Wan will be treated here, tonight because the moment he walked into my ward, he became  _ my _ patient.”

It was kind of funny to watch the three ‘adults’ argue over who he belonged to when only a few months ago, he had been a Member of the Council and waging war as a High General.

“I’m not leaving, not again,” Qui-Gon said, echoing Obi-Wan’s thoughts about Ahsoka.

Master Che shook her head, her blue skin luminous in the white lights of the medical ward, “Qui-Gon, the Mandalorian is correct, by galactic law, Obi-Wan is under his custody. And as Obi-Wan’s parent, he has the right to ask you to leave.”

Qui-Gon looked at him and Obi-Wan turned his head away.

Force, he needed sleep, and he needed space from this waking dream. This waking nightmare.

“You would choose a Mandalorian over your own people?" his Master asked, voice oddly soft.

Obi-Wan sighed but gave the real answer, “Cody and Rex are my people, just as is Ahsoka. The question is not what I choose, but if the Order will take in all of us or none of us.”

“Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon chided, “Mandalorians and the Jedi rarely work together.”

“Yet it was the Mandalorians who saved our younglings and Master Ali-Alann today, as well as help you and Master Tahl rescue the Temple. Saving us all,” Master Che said. “So, Master Jinn, I really must insist.”

Qui-Gon hesitated a moment, and Obi-Wan was careful not to look, the man let out a soft sigh, “When you want to talk, Obi-Wan, I will hear you.”

Obi-Wan shut his eyes as he laid back on the bed, “Good luck at the trial tomorrow, I know it will not be easy.”

His old Master didn’t seem to know what to say to that because he merely said, “May the Force be with you, Padawan.”

“And with you,” Obi-Wan said, deliberately leaving off the corresponding title.

If they were paired as Master and Padawan again, then the dynamics between them would have to change dramatically. His coldness toward his Master was as much of a protection as a warning to Qui-Gon.

Nothing could be as it had been before.

Qui-Gon departed, and Master Che tried to get him to remove his robes.

“No,” he said firmly meeting her gaze.

Knowing that the sight of his scars would throw the healer into a tizzy.

Cody took off his helmet to frown out him, “Obi-Wan.”

Obi-Wan gave the slight shake of his eyes turning his eyes slightly to the side, a play along signal.

Cody sighed, “Just stick him with an I.V., if he wants the scars, he can keep them.”

“I must insist I see the wounds,” she said.

“He electrocuted me through my clothes as I said, he didn’t what he was doing.”

“Give me the ornaments and cold packs and I will see that he is treated, Master Che,” Cody told her.

“I don’t know-”

“It won’t be the first time he’s patched me up, Master,” Obi-Wan told her, even as she took his arm for the I.V.

She frowned, “You were hurt before this?”

“He’s been fighting in a war,” Cody told her, “did you think he was going to bring back souvenirs?”

She glared at him, “Do not take that tone with me, Mando.”

He bowed his head, “My apologies, it has been a long day. But I can see to him, if he needs anything that is beyond my humble skills, I will ask for your help.” He glared at Obi-Wan, “And he will be grateful.”

Obi-Wan smiled innocently at them both.

Master Che sighed, “Very well, but I will hold you to your word, Warrior.”

Cody nodded, and Obi-Wan could tell that Cody was pleased to be referred to as Warrior.

When Master Che had left the room, Cody ordered, “Let’s see it.”

Obi-Wan obediently undid the layers of his robes to expose his side where Xanatos had jabbed him. There were a few angry welts, but the rest of the scaring, white and shadowed lines, were more impressive.

Cody had seen them before, but met Obi-Wan’s gaze with a question, “Your- they followed you?”

He nodded, “I don’t know why or how, but then I don’t know how we travelled either.”

“How deep do they go?” Cody asked.

He shook his head, “I’m not sure, I just know they haven’t caused me any pain or discomfort yet.”

“I need to see them,” Cody stated.

“Not here, later.

Cody gave a short nod and began treating the recent injury, “How are you feeling? With being here, I mean.”

Obi-Wan sighed, “Not great.”

“How were you captured?”

“I didn’t sense him in time. The Force is so much lighter now then it will be, the presence of darkness was more familiar to me, I didn’t realize it was coming from an individual until it was too late.”

“That doesn’t explain why you weren’t able to fight back.”

Obi-Wan fisted his hands, “I’m going to have to relearn everything, Cody. My memory and my muscle memory are in conflict. It is going to take me years to retrain this body to fight instinctively with Soresu. I’ll have to rely more on my old form Ataru, but even then, I was never as good with it as either my Master or Ahsoka. But even if I put my focus back into learning that form instead, I’m still shorter, and it’s the small things really, unexpected moments, weaknesses, I’m not prepared to adapt with.”

“Then perhaps you should have someone help you. Could Tano-”

“Help?” he asked, “Absolutely, but she isn’t yet a teacher nor a master of her own form, her knowledge of Soresu is quite limited.”

“Would your old Master be able to help?” Cody asked carefully.

Obi-Wan was quiet for a time, considering the question.

Could Qui-Gon help him? Qui-Gon’s own mastery was in Ataru, but he knew a fair bit about Makashi as well. Form II and Form IV, and even though Soresu, Form III was closer kin to its adaptation, Form V, Anakin’s preference, there was still much Qui-Gon could teach him.

And as Obi-Wan already knew the theoretical aspects of it, as well as knowing what he was supposed to be able to accomplish, he would only need Qui-Gon’s help with training this body and not letting him slip on mistakes that could form bad habits. Corrections that Ahsoka might not be able to point out to him.

He sighed.

“You want to leave the Order,” Cody said, his voice soft with comprehension.

Obi-Wan sighed again, “I’ll leave that to Ahsoka, no matter what happens, the four of us are staying together.”

Cody waited a beat then asked, “Your telekinesis powers? You said you didn’t sense Xanatos in time, how deep does that go?”

“Deep enough that I think you’re right about me not being alone. The Force has not abandoned but I feel…” he sighed, “I  _ feel. _ I haven’t dealt with this many onslaughts of emotions since…”

He was about to say when Qui-Gon died, but that wasn’t true.

He had suppressed those feelings, then slowly over time let them go to the Force. He had to be the calm one, because Anakin hadn’t been, and things had not improved when Obi-Wan went from trying to end violence to orchestrating it on a galactic level.

“That long?” Cody asked, amused.

He huffed, “I haven’t felt this emotional since I was thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen. If memories serves, it did start getting better around my sixteenth lifeday, but I think that was also the year I ratted Qui-Gon out to the Council during a mission where he bent the rules.”

Cody’s brows shot up, “You did what?”

“Qui-Gon and I had many ‘phases’, shall we say, over my apprenticeship. I earned his trust, only to lose it. He earned my respect only for him to go directly against a Council edict.”

“How exactly did you end being the straight man between your Master and your Padawan?”

“Misfortune,” Obi-Wan said, “I love them both, but Force help me, sometimes...” He sighed, “Qui-Gon, unlike Anakin, was never hot tempered though just as stubborn-”

Cody groaned, “Blast, I thought we were going to get a few years of peace.”

Obi-Wan smiled, “Sorry my friend, no such luck. Qui-Gon was an enigma to me most of the time. What I saw as his acting rashly was usually very purposeful. But he works on an instinctual level, letting the Force guide him more actively, he’s a quiet man, but that’s because he is listening, not just to the people around him, but the underlying influences, the ebbs and flow of the Force moving. However, while Qui-Gon was rarely wrong, he had the most unfortunate habit of never explaining himself, leaving everyone else to scramble in his wake.”

Cody looked up the ceiling, “Sounds like General Skywalker, but he is-was,  _ would be _ reacting, lashing out, not necessarily purposeful.”

Obi-Wan nodded, “Anakin is very good at thinking in the military abstract, but unlike Qui-Gon, Anakin wasn’t as good as thinking abstractly about other’s needs and motivations.”

“Your Master left you for dead, then saddled you an Apprentice before you were ready. That does not make him good with people in my mind.”

Obi-Wan shrugged, “Qui-Gon is a Jedi Knight, he is very good at being compassionate, more so than I ever was. But when it comes to his personal attachments, he gets lost. We weren’t exactly taught what healthy relationships are supposed to be when the lines get blurry between commitment to the Order and emotions getting messy.”

Cody sighed, closing his eyes, “It was the same for us. We grew up so fast, too fast. And were never individuals, duty always came first. What we thought of each other, of our superiors, that didn’t matter, not even when there were problems.”

Obi-Wan nodded, “There’s a reason why the Knight’s service is so selective, why my turning my back on it was… If I had joined one of the corps, there would have been no fallout. Yoda might have been disappointed, but what I did, refusing a direct Order…”

“So you became rule abiding because of this?” he asked.

“You have no idea how hard I tried to earn back Qui-Gon’s trust. But even when I had it, he didn’t change much, and by the Force, once Tahl died he got even less communicative.”

Cody opened his brown eyes and said, “He is now the one who must earn back your trust.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said, “And maybe that is unfair, because he didn’t willingly leave me on Melida/Daan. Every minute he argued with me, Tahl’s life was put at greater risk, and despite your protective instincts, thirteen is old enough to have made that choice. And if he had pushed it to a fight, we both would have lost.”

Cody sighed, “I wish I could say I don’t understand, but I do. I never knew another life from that of a soldier, but I never had the choice. Even if you were a gundark gnat about it, by putting your life in undue danger, that the Order gives you the freedom to leave, is not inherently a bad thing.”

Obi-Wan reached out to grab Cody’s hand, “I am sorry, my friend, that neither the Republic nor the Order gave you the same.”

Cody met his gaze, “Even if I had had the choice, I wouldn’t have chosen differently. You  _ earned _ our respect, General Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan felt his heart constrict, maybe he had accomplished something of worth in his life after all.

* * *

Tahl wasn’t sure exactly what had happened down below the levels, she only knew that if Qui-Gon didn’t offer Obi-Wan another shot at Padawanship, she would.

As she waited with Ahsoka and Rex, who seemed to be familiar, or at least use common sense with what she needed and didn’t need assistance with, like pushing the right bottom on lift or giving descriptions of what halls they were in and the placement of doors and steps, she felt her curiosity growing.

Who were these people? Was it possible Ahsoka was a Green Jedi from Corellia?

And what were two Mandalorians doing with Jedi, to begin with?

Also, how in the worlds had little Obi-Wan ended up with them?

She felt Qui-Gon’s presence coming down the hall, she immediately crossed her arms, “Why aren’t you with your Padawan?”

She could sense his grimace, “I didn’t get the opportunity to ask him back.”

She let her face speak for her.

He sighed, “Obi-Wan could hardly meet my gaze, and Cody pushed his parental right.”

Rex chuckled.

But Tahl shook her head, “Obi-Wan is ours.”

Rex said from beside her, “That was then, but this is now. Cody isn’t going to give ground until we all have permission to stay.”

Tahl turned to him, “A Mandalorian, wishing to join the Jedi Order?”

“Two Mandalorians,” Ahsoka corrected.

Mace came down the hall then. “This meeting wasn’t going to be interesting enough?” he asked briskly, before continuing without giving any of them time to respond, “Come.”

She heard Mace take his seat and she stood in what was most likely the centre of the room with Qui-Gon on one side of her, Rex on the other.

She shouldn’t have felt so comfortable around him, but she found that she was.

“Master Tahl,” Mace said, “You may give your report.”

She gave it, though she was sure Qui-Gon would have more details.

The saving of the younglings seemed to bring the tension down in the room, tension which returned as Qui-Gon detailed his side of the story when she had left the party.

She felt her astonishment echoed around her from the sitting Council Members.

Xanatos had his faults, certainly, but he had also been incredibly gifted.

Yet by what Qui-Gon was describing, the only reason the duel had lasted as long as it had, was because Ahsoka hadn’t actually maimed or killed him.

“Hmmm,” Yoda murmured after Qui-Gon had finished, “Disturbing, this news is, yet lucky, think I, we are that made such allies, did Obi-Wan.”

It was only because she was stretching with her senses did Tahl hear Mace shift in his seat, “Where are you three from and how did you come to meet Obi-Wan?”

Rex shifted but it was Ahsoka who spoke, her voice clear and without hesitation, “We met him on Melida/Daan. We’ve been with him ever since.”

“Brought peace, did you,” Yoda remarked, “Succeed where others fail, you have. But return Obi-Wan to us, was not your purpose.”

“No, Master Yoda,” she said, “We came to Coruscant because of the youngling Asajj Ventress.”

“Accepted at the Temple has she been, but questions, yes, many questions, here remain. Skilled are you, Padawan Tano, but know you, this Order does not.”

“I am not a part of your Order,” Ahsoka said with a bit more heat than Tahl had been expecting.

“Who was your Master?” Mace asked.

“Darth Maul,” Ahsoka answered blandly.

Tahl felt everyone but Rex go rigid in the room.

“ _ Darth  _ Maul,” Mace asked, “he was a Dark Sider?”

“Is,” Ahsoka corrected, “He’s a Sith Lord.”

Tahl flashed on the conversation in the lift, when they mentioned the Sith with such familiarity.

“That’s impossible,” Ki-Adi Mundi said. “There hasn’t been Sith for a thousand years.”

Ahsoka scoffed, “You realize it wasn’t the Jedi who eradicated the numbers of the Sith, but the Sith themselves. And in a galaxy so large, are you so arrogant to believe that you could find them?”

“They don’t exist,” Ki-Adi Mundi pressed.

“Well, I’m telling you, that they do.”

“Cody, my brother, and I saved Ahsoka and Obi-Wan from Darth Maul,” Rex said.

Tahl felt horror fill her. They weren’t lying, she could feel that they were holding details back, but truth rang in the Force around them. The turbulence that the Force had been flowing in, eased around these two, as if they spoke with its will.

She knew Qui-Gon felt it too when his breath began to deepen.

But it was Qui-Gon who spoke next, “Are you saying my apprentice encountered a Sith Lord?”

“And it nearly killed him,” Rex added evenly.

Tahl felt dread enter her system.

“Padawan Tano,” Qui-Gon addressed formally, “You shone with the Light, and you called yourself Padawan, not apprentice. You are no Sith.”

“No,” she agreed, “I’m not, which is why I left him, why he tried to kill me.”

“Why did he try to kill Obi-Wan?” Master Tin asked.

“Because Obi-Wan is a Jedi,” she said.

“Why did you call yourself Padawan if you are not a part of the Order?” Mace asked.

“Because that’s what Obi-Wan called me,” she said.

“Where did you train?” Mace questioned, “And where is your Master now?”

“First, he isn’t my Master, I left him. Second, that information won’t help you because we travelled constantly, and third, I don’t have the faintest.”

Tahl felt irritation rise in her, “The make of his ship?”

“He didn’t have a single ship,” she said, “And the Sith have been hiding for a thousand years, you really think he will be that easy to track? He likely knows I’m here, your leads are long dead.”

“So skilled is he?” Yoda asked.

“He uses a double bladed sabre, is a master in both Form VI and Form VII.”

“And he enjoys killing,” Rex supplied.

“How did you get away from him?” Tahl asked.

“We ran,” Rex and Ahsoka answered.

“That’s why you were on Rattatak,” Qui-Gon surmised.

“Yes,” Ahsoka said, “But Obi-Wan sensed Asajj. The Force brought us to her.”

Again, Tahl felt the shift in the Force, the easing of a river finding its way past obstacles, its course to its ocean running freely.

They asked questions, many more questions, but their answers were both helpful and not helpful enough.

Ahsoka refused to go into her training, and there was a note of pain in her voice, as if whatever had happened between her and her Master had ended less than well.

Tahl scolded herself,  _ Of course, it hadn’t ended well. He was trying to kill her. _

Perhaps, all the Jedi.

They couldn’t let her go. They couldn’t let Obi-Wan go out there either.

Even having two personal Mandalorian caretakers wouldn’t help them. __

Yoda seemed to be on the same wavelength, “Become a Jedi, wish you?”

Ahsoka froze, and the Force rose, a rippling mass about them.

Qui-Gon shivered.

Ahsoka opened her mouth and a sound came out, but it was not a word. 

Tahl turned, as she saw in her mind's eye a corvo bird soar through the room. She blinked back tears, never thinking she would be able to see anything in waking hours again.

The bird was like an embodiment of light as it flew into the Togruta.

And for a brief moment, Tahl saw her, saw the marking on her skin, the patterning on her montrals, and her bright blue eyes.

The image faded, but Tahl was grateful even for the briefest flashes of the Force.

When Ahsoka spoke next, her words were free of bitterness and pain, “Yes, I wish to become a Jedi, but answer to the Force, not the High Council.”

Tahl knew Qui-Gon was smiling, because she was smiling.

“Hmmm,” Yoda hummed, “Much to discuss, have we. Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi must we still speak. Tomorrow, meet will we. Time it will take, Padawan Tano, to find you a Master it will.”

It was the first time in Tahl’s memory that she had seen the Council not deliberate on an issue, yet because no one protested, there was no need to debate.

Tahl had expected a Sith Apprentice to be met with more resistance.

But it wasn’t everyday the Light Side of the Force manifested and was so... direct.

Rex spoke, “Ahsoka is as much under our custody as Obi-Wan. I will repeat, you cannot have them without taking us into your Order as well.”

Tahl could imagine Yoda’s pressed smile matched by Mace’s scowl.

And Qui-Gon gave a soft snort, alerting her to the change as Mace said pleasantly, “Alright, you can work for the Order, on the condition that you train with us and wear the Jedi insignia on your armour.”

Tahl rolled her eyes, that was low, the Mandalorians could be very particular about the symbols they wore. There was no way a Mando would wear the symbol of the Jedi Order. Mustafar would fr-

“It would be our honour to bear the symbol of the Jedi,” Rex said without hesitation.

Had frozen over.

Mustafar was currently matching the sub-below temperatures of Hoth because even Mace needed clarification, “Excuse me?”

“I accept your terms, and in this, I speak for my brother, Cody as well.”

“But you’re a Mandalorian.”

“I am but I’m not from Mandalore. My brother and I have no clan, no kin to turn to. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and now Asajj, are all we have,” Rex explained.

“Where are you from?” Sifo-Dyas asked.

“From a planet you’ve never heard of.”

Mace didn’t scoff, but he did ask in an unamused tone, “Try us.”

“Kamino,” Rex responded flatley.

Tahl could practically see the gears turning in everyone's heads.

“I’ve never heard of it,” Tahl said cheerily.

Ahsoka let out a short laugh.

Yoda spoke, “Stay, the Mandalorians may, already served the Order have they. See into their intentions I do. Move around them, through them, the Force does. A part of us, already are they.”

* * *

Qui-Gon didn't know what to think. Obi-Wan had come back to the Temple with a Sith apprentice, a Sith supposed apprentice who seemed to shine almost painfully in the Light.

If the Togruta wasn't a mere seventeen year old, he would have thought her a fully fledged Jedi Knight.

But Obi-Wan hadn't looked at him, hadn't spoken to him, not to apologize, not ask for a place back, just…

Qui-Gon knocked on the boy's door which he was sharing with the three newcomers. The Council had not met the next day because Obi-Wan had been fast asleep, and Master Che had gone off on the Council.

But Obi-Wan was well enough today that he had been allowed to go to a new apartment with his new family.

Ahsoka Tano answered the door, her eyes narrowing on him, but he was already looking over her head at the scene behind her. She glanced back too.

"How bad is it?" Obi-Wan asked.

One of the twin Mandalorians, his helmet on as always and a new crest on his shoulder, traced a finger down Obi-Wan's back, "I don't think you should have any problems, just don't forget to stretch. Even if they aren’t deep, better safe than regretful. But you're young, most of these will fade."

"It's almost a pity they healed," the other said, their voices sounding incredibly similar, "You wouldn't have scared this much if you'd been thrown into a bacta tank for a week."

With a pit in his stomach, Qui-Gon stepped around Ahsoka to get a better look at his Padawan's bare back.

Qui-Gon sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening in horror.

Obi-Wan spun, pulling his tunic up, but not before Qui-Gon saw the scarring continued across his chest and his arms.

"Obi-Wan…" he breathed as the boy folded in on himself, head bowing in shame.

"Qui-Gon, I ca-"

"Who did that to you?" Qui-Gon demanded.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "It doesn't matter, it’s over."

"Over?" Qui-Gon repeated, his voice tremulous as something like rage rose inside of him, "Who has done this to you, Obi-Wan?"

The boy’s jaw tightened and he looked away, "It doesn't matter, it was my own stupidity. I acted rashly and paid the price for it. I survived, it's over, end of story."

"End of story?" Qui-Gon asked, his frustration rising spilling into his voice, "You look as if you've been whipped within an inch of his life!"

Obi-Wan finally met his gaze, and gone was the wide-eyed initiate who had infuriated a Hutt, in his eyes was a world of knowledge and of suffering experienced and witnessed that was so great that his own woes no longer mattered.

It set off every warning, every protective instinct he had, to see such a dramatic change in a boy so young.

"No, I wasn't. Not even close, I mean some of it bled, some simply left burns, and the electricity didn't do me any favours, but they wanted me intact. If they actually meant to kill me, they would have ripped the skin off my back and struck down through the layers of muscle to bone. The scars I have aren't nearly that bad."

Qui-Gon was speechless at his Padawan’s detailed yet irreverent way he spoke about the scars.

“They wouldn't look half so bad if you weren't so pale,” one of the Mandalorians remarked, taking off his helmet, finally revealing his face, his eyes were dark, his hair blonde, contrasting with his dark skin.

Obi-Wan let out a heavy sigh, "At least they spared my face."

Ahsoka plopped down on the mat beside the blonde Mando, Rex, "Yes, yes, you’re too pretty for headshots."

Obi-Wan nodded, his tone was deadpan serious as he said, "It is a heavy burden, this pretty face of mine, yet soldier on I must."

Ahsoka giggled.

Qui-Gon was horrified, “You’re joking about this? Padawan, you were whipped.”

Contrariwise Obi-Wan looked amused, “I’m aware, Master.”

Qui-Gon was done with this, whatever this was, “You need to be seen by a healer.”

“Master Che cleared me," he assured.

The other Mando removed his helmet, his hair was dark and he had a scar at his temple.

But seeing their faces, Qui-Gon finally understood why they sounded alike, they weren’t just brothers, they were twins.

Cody gave Qui-Gon a respect filled expression that nonetheless translated to a smirk. "Correction, she cleared you for the damage Xanatos caused, you never let her see the scars."

Obi-Wan rolled, "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours, Sir. You don’t need a medic for the scars but you should still be checked over more thoroughly. I didn’t realize how extensive these were.”

Obi-Wan sighed, and Qui-Gon was struck by the sudden realization that the words of these Mandalorians might have more weight with Obi-Wan than his.

“Who gave you those scars, Obi-Wan?”

“Why do you even care?” Ahsoka asked.

He turned on her, “He is my Padawan.”

“Am I?” Obi-Wan asked, his voice soft.

Qui-Gon could have bitten his tongue, he had meant to ask, not demand it.

Ahsoka snorted, “So you want to boss him around, but you don’t actually want the responsibility of being his Master. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, given that you left a mere thirteen year old standard fighting in a war.”

Qui-Gon shook his head, “I ordered him to come with me.”

Obi-Wan stepped forward, “Master, I am sorry for disobeying and breaking your trust, and I am even more sorry for endangering Master Tahl.”

Those words were earnest, and Qui-Gon was struck by Tahl’s words, ‘He’s young and he didn’t do what he did to betray you.’

“Obi-Wan Kenobi, I want you to return to the Order as my Padawan. But whether you return or not, I would like to know who has hurt you.”

Obi-Wan looked amused, “So you will take me back if I just tell you whipped me?”

Qui-Gon frowned, “Yes? I mean-”

Obi-Wan grinned, “Zygerrian slave traders.”

Qui-Gon gaped, and repeated, “Zygerrian…” he ran hand through his hair, “You… you end a civil war, befriend two Mandalorians and a Sith apprentice, and cross paths with Weequay pirates to save a lost youngling, nearly crossing paths with a rogue Jedi Knight, and you were captured by  _ Zygerrian _ slavers?”

Obi-Wan looked more amused, “That’s about right, Master, and then add what happened at the Temple, and it's been a busy few months.”

“The wider galaxy,” Ahsoka intoned, “is a dangerous place.”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, using the Force to toss a blanket at her, which she caught with a laugh.

Qui-Gon could only stare, Obi-Wan should be a broken tramatized mess at this point, he had faced nearly every enemy the Jedi had, half had tried to kill and torture him, the other half he had befriended and brought home.

It occurred to Qui-Gon that he didn’t know the first thing about his apprentice.

Obi-Wan finished tying his robes shut, “Shall we go meet the Council?”

The others stood, and Qui-Gon reached for Obi-Wan’s sabre that he had kept with him since Obi-Wan had surrendered.

Obi-Wan looked grateful as he took the weapon back.

Qui-Gon didn’t push the boundaries of this new start and refrained from the instinctual gesture to put a hand on his shoulder. Who knew what new burdens curried with him. He also understood after seeing those scars how they had all come so close.

There wasn’t quite like facing the galaxy and certain death together that forged trust.

Qui-Gon had hoped that Obi-Wan and he could have that, it would take work and patience, but that’s what the path of a Jedi Knight meant.

And that path never ended.

“Obi-Wan, I did not mean to make my offer seem conditional. I  _ want _ you to be my Padawan.”

Obi-Wan met his gaze fully then, “And I want you to be my Master, Qui-Gon.”

Something tight in Qui-Gon’s chest loosened, and he felt as if he could breath more fully for the first time since he had left Obi-Wan behind.

He was never going to make that mistake again.

oOo

They never made it to the Council room.

Qui-Gon was surprised, but displeased to see his old Master walking at Sifo-Dyas’s side on their way to the same destination.

However, Ahsoka had an entirely different response to seeing the Makashi Master.

Her sabres were in her hands and lit as she all but sored toward the two Masters.

“Ahsoka, wait!” Obi-Wan called.

But she didn’t appear to hear them.

As her sabres clashed with startling sound and intensity against Dooku’s blue blade.

Sifo-Dyas got out of the way as the duel commenced.

Obi-Wan stood at attention, his sabre hilt in his hand as he tracked the fight.

They had been close to the Council room, and Council members came out to see the source of the commotion.

“Well, I suppose you must be the little would-be Sith,” Dooku taunted, his eyes glinting, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

Ahsoka roared at him, the sound coming from deep with her, speaking to the predator ancestry of the Togruta species.

“Did Dooku find someone willing to play with him?” Tahl asked at his side.

Mace was watching the fight as attentively as Obi-Wan was. The Vapaad Master said, “She is remarkable.”

Qui-Gon crossed his arms. A few decades back, Dooku had put forth a challenge to the Order to jump him and start duelling at random.

He never lost.

Ever.

Now was no different.

Until it was.

Dooku, predictably, achieved the upper hand, the point of his blue sabre at her throat.

That should have been the end of it, but there was something like hate or disgust on the Togruta’s face, and that’s when all the Masters present realized that she hadn’t been playing.

This wasn’t a game to her.

Dooku didn’t have long enough to process that her intent was deadly. She leaned back under the point of his sabre, and she did a spin, one leg extended. Sweeping Dooku’s heel out from underneath him, causing him to fall back.

Qui-Gon was reaching for his lightsabre, as was every other Master, as Ahsoka’s sabres came down on Dooku who stared up at his death with incomprehension.

No one would have been able to make it time, but Obi-Wan had seemed to be expecting this because he aimed at her exposed back.

It was a move that would have cut her down the middle.

But the Togruta sensed him and changed her momentum in an almost impossible motion, bringing her twin sabres in a cross guard behind her.

She spun on him, but when she hesitated seeing who it was some rationality coming back to her.

But Qui-Gon knew it wasn’t over.

There was too much adrenaline in her system. So Obi-Wan pressed the attack.

His motions were staggered, and more halting than Qui-Gon ever seen from him before.

The boy was among the best in his year, his dedication to lightsaber training had been a credit to him. Sure, he could be clumsy, many boys were at his age, but this was…

Qui-Gon found himself worrying that Master Che really needed to do a full examination.

It should have been ludicrous to think that Obi-Wan fighting like this could be pushing back the female who had nearly murdered Dooku, the finest duelling champion in the Order, but press her back he did.

As Obi-Wan met her every strike, he switched between what looked like a mockery of Form III, Form IV, then Form V, and finally he settled on, of all things, Form I. Despite his lack of coherent form, he was nonetheless able to predict her every motion.

It was so much a fight between them as her lashing out, him blocking with a step forward, followed by another block and another step. And she let herself be directed back.

By the time that they were nearly pressed to the Council chambers. They stopped. Sabre lowered and extiqueshed in a motion that seemed choreographed.

Obi-Wan leaned in to whisper something to her.

He couldn’t hear what he said, but he saw her eyes widen briefly then all emotion was whipped clean.

When Obi-Wan stepped back, both their expressions were hard yet passive, attentive but unreadable.

Qui-Gon thought they looked like guards or soldiers. Neither held themselves like teenagers after picking a fight or exhilarated from a near brush with death.

They looked like Generals. Like two people putting on a sure serious face as the dead were counted and hard choices needed to be made.

Dooku was standing, looking at them warily. He didn’t look mad, but Qui-Gon knew that sometimes his old Master had a perverse idea of entertainment. An assination attempt was a bit like a lifeday present for him.

Yet people still wondered why Qui-Gon had become a maverick and Rael had become… Rael.

Ahsoka stepped forward, her sabres at her hand pressed together in respect, held before her as she bowed to Dooku, “My apologies, Master Dooku. I was mistaken about you.”

He quirked a brow at her, “That was most impressive, young Padawan. You are forgiven, if next time you accept your defeat.”

She quirked a brow back at him, as she asked archly, “Next time?”

They had all gathered closer now, only a few Council members hanging back.

Master Dooku’s brown eyes smiled at her, “Sifo-Dyas tells me you are in need of a Master.”

Mace made a sound, “She tries to kill you in broad daylight and you want her as your next apprentice?”

Dooku smiled, meeting Qui-Gon’s gaze, “I’ve never had a Padawan who could best me before.”

Qui-Gon glared at him, unable to argue the point and resenting it all the same.

“Ouch,” Obi-Wan said softly as he caught Qui-Gon’s gaze.

Both Qui-Gon’s brows shot up at Obi-Wan’s daring.

Tahl laughed, the sound was musical.

It was the first true laugh he had heard since her accident, and he welcomed the happiness on her face even if it was at his expense.

Dooku turned his attention back on Padawan Ahsoka Tano.

The female who had almost murdered him in cold blood who he was now offering to make more dangerous.

It was so absurd that the Council hadn’t even had time yet to throw a fit about her display of violence and deadly force. Despite her remaining completely within the Light, her actions were not justified, nor as far as Qui-Gon could tell, provoked.

Dooku spoke in his refined deep tenure, “I could teach you much, young one. Including, how to control your temper.”

She blinked up at him, her expression seeming caught between blank and confused. Her eyes went to the side toward the boy standing next to her, “Hey, Obi-Wan?”

“Yes, Ahsoka?” he asked in a dry tone.

“Count Dooku is going to teach me how to control my temper.”

There was a beat.

Then Obi-Wan half-snorted and half-choked before the expressionless mask he had been wearing broke completely as he began to laugh.

Ahsoka joined him and soon they were holding onto each other and as they laughed uproariously, nearly doubled over with it as their merriment echoed off the arched ceilings.

They were laughing in Master Dooku’s face.

No one else laughed, no one else dared. Every eye turned to Dooku as he stared stone-faced at the two Padawans keeled over in hysterical mirth.

Trying to assassinate him was, by Dooku’s twisted standards, quite acceptable, laughing at him…

Qui-Gon could not remember anyone laughing in the austere Master’s face, not ever.

Dooku turned his gaze slowly to Qui-Gon who could only open his hands in a helpless gesture.

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan continued to laugh as if the pinnacle of comedy had danced before them. But Qui-Gon didn’t get the joke, there were few Masters with the self-control Dooku had.

Which was the precise moment that as Qui-Gon played back what Ahsoka had said he caught the oddest bit of her peculiar jest. He met his Master’s dark gaze, he had heard the title too.

She had referred to him not as Master, she had referred to him as  _ Count _ Dooku.

* * *

AN: What!? Another chapter??? Thrice as long???? Surely there must be some thoughts worth some pennies for this humble and very broke grad student? Pretty Please?


	5. Council

KEYnote: Any deviations from source materials were purposeful, I aim only to be consistent within my own story. From here we part ways from the Apprentice Books.

Chapter 5 - Council

Ahsoka felt Cody touch her shoulder as she gasped for breath, still clinging to Obi-Wan's arm.

Cody said so lowly that few who did not have the sensitivity of her hearing could have heard.

"I understand the joke, but here is not the place," he said.

That sobered her, and Obi-Wan too, who had likely taken Cody's gesture as reprimand even if he hadn't heard.

Master Qui-Gon cleared his throat, "Would you like to explain why you just laughed at my Master, Padawan Kenobi?"

And that's when Ahsoka remembered that Master Kenobi had never met Dooku before he joined the Dark Side.

Well, as first introductions went…

Obi-Wan bowed to the Count, "My apologies, Master Dooku." He rose, his expression pleasant and unprovoking, on his older face it made him look more refined than he was, on this face it made him look rather adorable. "I have found the last few months, altering," said the Master of Understatements, "I meant you no disrespect."

Dooku's lips thinned, but he nodded.

Then he looked at Ahsoka.

She simply shook her head, "No, don't ask. I'm not explaining myself to you."

He frowned at her, but Master Sifo-Dyas stepped in, the guy that Master Skywalker said went a little bit crazy.

At least he didn't turn to the Dark Side, she thought as Sifo-Dyas said, "Why don't we move this conversation back to the Council room?"

Ahsoka turned and with Obi-Wan at her side, they were the first ones to enter the room, seeing as Obi-Wan had backed her into the doors.

For that she was grateful. No one would have forgiven her for killing a Master Jedi, and as she didn't want to spend the rest of her life either in prison or on the run, not killing the Count was a good thing.

Obi-Wan almost walked to his seat, but Ahsoka caught his sleeve.

He flashed her a grateful smile as the four of them, plus Masters Tahl, Jinn, and Dooku waited in the middle of the room for the Council to take their seats.

Strangely, it was a Wookie Master Ahsoka had never seen before who spoke first.

What he said, roughly translated to, "What the kark was that?"

Ahsoka blinked at him, never having thought a Council member would ever speak without decorum.

Obi-Wan leaned toward her and whispered softly, "Master Tyvokka, he's Plo Koon's Master."

Ahsoka stared at the Wookie more closely, appraising him, and wondering why she had never heard of him before.

"Answer my question, girl," he said in his roaring language, "I can see in your eyes that you know my tongue."

She frowned at him, he was nothing like Master Plo. But she let it go, and simply shrugged in answer.

The best thing about pretending to be a Sith apprentice was she could be as uncivilized and volatile as she wanted to be and no one would think too long about it.

Of course, that's when Sifo-Dyas caught one of her slips, "Why did you address Master Dooku as Count? Jedi hold no offices outside of the Order."

_Except for military titles._

But what could she say to explain calling him Count?

She didn't make the mistake of looking at Obi-Wan, Skyguy, after all, had taught her how to lie convincingly, and neither did Obi-Wan didn't make the mistake of answering for her.

She searched her thoughts for anything, something that would be close enough to the truth that slipping up in the future wouldn't expose her discrepancies.

And then it hit her.

" _Count_ Dooku of Serenno is being hunted by the Sith."

The room went very still, but Master Tyvokka leaned into that silence and broke it with a thunderous accusation of, "And you thought to finish the job!? You are still working for your Sith Master!"

She shook her head, "No, I mean Darth Maul's Master is hunting him to convert him to their side. I heard my Master debating about it." Which wasn't untrue.

 _Anakin_ and Master Kenobi had debated it, a lot.

Who had been Maul's Master? And who had been Dooku's Master? Were they one and the same?

The possibility that Maul had been Dooku's Master was near inconceivable. As much damage as Dooku had done to the galaxy and betrayed the Order, Obi-Wan had been confident that Dooku would never have bowed to the creature who had murdered Qui-Gon Jinn. Besides that, it meant he would have become a Sith while being a part of the Order. That would have been nearly impossible to hide.

"Convert?" Dooku asked. "You mean to become a Sith?"

She smiled bitterly at him, "Yes, congratulations on being chosen most likely to fall to the Dark Side."

"Or the most useful as a traitor," Rex said.

Dooku looked a bit prepared, but weirdly unoffended.

"Why did they choose him?" Sifo-Dyas asked.

Ahsoka began counting things out on her fingers, "Oh let's see, his vocal interest in politics," Anakin had made her research Dooku extensively, which was probably an assignment he had passed down from Obi-Wan, "his messy ties with his homeworld, his obvious care for material things," she glanced at the man's immaculate and dark robes that looked as if they had been ironed, "his reputation as a duelist. Being _the_ Makashi Master, which is a style most useful _against_ other lightsabre wielders."

"Yet knowing this," Yoda interrupted her, his tone almost defensive, "attack him still you did."

She shrugged, "If he's on my ex-Master's Master side, then he's evil."

Yoda narrowed his gaze on her and she felt like she was on trial all over again.

But she wouldn't be weak this time, she would speak as Obi-Wan did sometimes against an opponent. No excuses, no compromises, just cutting words that undermined whatever someone said.

"Fallen to the Dark, my Padawan has not."

She had almost forgotten that Dooku was Yoda's.

How embarrassing that must have been when the war started. And heart breaking, she thought with a bit more compassion.

Her next words were spoken gentler than she had initially intended, "Not yet."

Yoda's lips thinned further, but strangely, Dooku himself looked more thoughtful than offended.

Even Piell, the Master who had died on her watch, said, "And yet you state that you don't know who this other Sith is."

She crossed her arms, "As you might imagine, the Sith are a secretive lot. Also, there's this habit we have of Masters and apprentices trying to kill one another. We aren't exactly the most trusting."

"How much danger have you put yourself in coming here and sharing all this?" Master Tahl asked.

"Not as much danger as remaining would have put me in."

"Once you start down the Dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny," Yoda said to her.

"And yet for someone who claims to be a Sith, you shine in the Light. If this has all been an elaborat-" Dooku began.

She turned on him, "What do any of you know of the Dark?" Her hands fisted at her sides.

His lips curled, "You just attacked me because you thought I had already fallen."

"No," she said, "I attacked you because I know what you're capable of becoming."

His dark eyes glimmered with some inner amusement, some intelligence that liked nothing more than a challenge, "You think the Dark is stronger, yet here you are."

"It's not stronger," she snapped, "Unless your only wish is to destroy. The Darkness is never more powerful than the Light."

"Of course it is," he said, almost tauntingly, "They are equals, yes, but those who experiment with the Dark Side are more dangerous, more powerful."

His words were spoken so lofty to her when she knew his death count, she knew all the terrible things, all the lives and systems he had destroyed. And for what? Were anarchy and tyrants truly preferable to a corrupt democracy that could be changed by good people like Padme Amidala or Bail Organa?

People who cared about life?

She nearly hissed her next words, "You know nothing. _Nothing_. You think you can understand the Force with poetry and clever metaphors? The Force is bigger than you, bigger than you could ever perceive, bigger than anything. But if you play with the Dark Side you will become its puppet."

She pretended not to remember what the Son had done to her, pretended not to remember trying to kill Anakin and Master Kenobi.

Pretended that she hadn't found a part of herself that would laugh as the galaxy burned.

"I've seen people fall. I've seen them think that they are using their power for the right reasons, that they are protecting people."

An image of Barriss's kind smile flashed in her mind. Her dear friend who had framed her for bombing the Temple. Barriss, who had been so traumatized by the war she had lost perspective. She had given into the fear and the pain.

And the Dark had turned a healer into a terrorist.

"But it isn't like that at all. You can't protect anyone, you can't help people. The Dark appears to give you limitless power; strength that you had never imagined possible."

Ahsoka had wanted to kill Anakin and she had very nearly succeeded. Only Master Kenobi entering the fight had saved him.

"But it comes at a cost. To use the Light you have to work for it, you have to act with clear intentions even if you're taking a life. You must give to receive, and you only receive as much as you are willing or able to give. In contrast, the Dark is easy, it comes easily because it _takes_ everything, and returns with more than you will survive. By the time you've realized you've gone too far, everything you have ever loved is gone _because_ of you."

She would never tell Obi-Wan, had never told Anakin, that she had wanted to die. Because at the end, she had been herself as the _full_ Force embracing her. In that brief moment between life and death, in that little infinity, she realized exactly what she had become, what she had wanted to do, and what she was capable of doing.

She had welcomed death.

Obi-Wan touched the back of her hand, almost tentatively, and she caught it, holding onto the support tightly. She was so glad she hadn't killed him, so glad she wasn't alone now.

"What brought you back?" Qui-Gon asked gently.

She looked away from those kind deep blue eyes, "I learned things that were probably best left forgotten."

In the breath that the Daughter had given back to her, Ahsoka had lived through dying twice.

She had seen through the Daughter's eyes. She had felt the Daughter's endless love for her brother and in turn seen and recognized the Son's love for her, even as he plunged the weapon through her.

The pain of the wound had been nothing compared to the heartbreak.

Sometimes, Ahsoka heard the Son's voice in her nightmares, unheard but remembered, lodged in the core of who she had become, in this second chance at life.

_So cold._

_It is ironic, my sister._

_You were the only one I truly loved._

Because of who he had been, he killed.

Because of who she had been, she had died.

Ahsoka was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't realize Rex had moved closer until he put a hand on her shoulder.

She exhaled the breath she had been holding onto and glanced around at the Masters. She didn't see accusation, or pride, or stubbornness, or supposed understanding when someone said something that sounded wise, no, instead, she saw introspection. She saw Jedi thinking, their expressions unclouded by fear nor pinched with sorrow.

This was an era unharried by war. The Force felt clean from the Darkness that had engulfed them, the suffering of the galaxy was not a distinct pining of grief and terror, loss and greed, all to be tuned out like white noise.

This was not the height of the Jedi Order, those years were many centuries forgotten, but neither was this the fall of the Jedi Order.

This was the peace before the storm when all threats could be handled, all worries something they had time to act on.

An era in which trusting the Republic Senate did not mean painting the galaxy with the blood of Jedi and clones.

She laid her hand on Rex's where it still rested on her shoulder, and she squeezed Obi-Wan's hand as she turned her head to meet her Grand-Master's gaze.

She saw a reflection of her own convictions in his eyes.

They had to fix things, they had to wake the Order up. Or everything they had ever been taught, ever belief they held, everything that they had fought and died for would come to nothing.

The Republic was corrupt, and the Jedi Order had allowed it to happen. That was the true cause of the war, even more so than any meddling from the Sith.

And countless would suffer for it. The Order's passive silence would be their ruin.

 _Evil prevails when good people do nothing_.

In the Order's case, they had acted too late, becoming the instrument of war rather than having the strength and resources to stop it.

Finally, Yoda spoke, "A part of the Order, you may become."

She raised her brows, "I thought we already agreed to this two days ago."

Sifo-Dyas smiled at her, "That was before you tried assassinating one of our Masters."

"I would still like the honour of becoming your Master, Ahsoka Tano," Dooku said, stepping forward.

Qui-Gon turned on him, "She hates you."

Ahsoka smiled, glad that she hadn't been the one to have to spell that out for the would-be Sith Lord.

Dooku nodded, "I understand, but I agree with you, Qui-Gon, that we should take in older initiates. I have not the inclination to raise another young teenager, this could be my last opportunity to train someone who has more than just potential."

That was oddly flattering and deeply worrying. Did it say more about her or him that Count Dooku wanted her as his apprentice?

"The choice is yours, Ahsoka Tano," Sifo-Dyas said.

She was about to say, _When Mustafar freezes over,_ but Obi-Wan gave her hand a light squeeze.

She could almost hear Master Kenobi's true voice as he gave her one of _those_ looks from his younger face.

_You said you wanted to change things, Ahsoka._

She almost groaned as she rolled her eyes at him. Anakin was right, Obi-Wan could be painfully annoying at times.

"Fine," she said, gazing back up at Dooku.

He smiled at her, and it was one that she didn't think the man who had fallen to the Dark had ever made. He bowed to _her_ , "Thank you, Padawan Tano."

Rex's grip tightened on her shoulder.

If possible, Rex and Cody would be more upset about this than she was.

Mace sighed, "You would be the Master who chooses a reluctant Padawan, and be happy about it."

Dooku smirked at him, "Jealous?"

"Hardly," Mace said before turning his dark gaze fell on Obi-Wan. "And now, Obi-Wan Kenobi, we will discuss your position with the Order."

Obi-Wan tensed, and she squeezed his hand, even as Rex let his hand fall. He and Cody stood at attention, Cody taking a half step to be behind Obi-Wan's shoulder and Rex positioned himself between her and Dooku.

Count Dooku, her new Master.

Guess she was actually the apprentice of a Sith now.

Kriff.

"Anything to say for yourself?"

Obi-Wan raised a brow at Mace's tone.

Ahsoka wondered how weird it must be for him to go from being on the Council to standing before them as practically a dishonoured initiate.

By the next words he said, she was pretty sure he wasn't impressed by Mace's intimidating voice, "What would you like me to say, Master Windu?"

Mace gave him an unamused look, "An apology would not go amiss."

Obi-Wan chuckled, "No, I'm not apologizing to the Council."

Ahsoka glanced at Qui-Gon, who she assumed would be annoyed at his Padawan.

But he looked surprised and pleased, Dooku just looked amused.

Tahl was stone faced, her long red hair and green-gold eyes making her look like a queen even in Jedi robes.

But Ahsoka knew queens, and Padme had that same stony expression when she was internally guffawing at Anakin's antics.

Seriously, was everyone in Obi-Wan's immediate influence somewhat addicted to chaos?

Yoda harrumphed, "Put Master Tahl in great danger you did."

Obi-Wan nodded, "I already apologized to her and Master Jinn for that."

"I have already accepted that apology," Tahl said pleasantly.

Ahsoka liked her.

Ki-Adi Mundi spoke up, "Obi-Wan, you have violated not only the trust of Qui-Gon, but the trust of the Council. You seem not to recognize that."

Obi-Wan stared at them, and his tone came out as Master Kenobi, the gravitas of his personage was, at least to Ahsoka, not hidden by his young form.

Council Member, Master, General Obi-Wan Kenobi, had been appointed very young to Council, yet he had been known as one of the wisest, and she had seen the other Masters look to him when the answers became unclear during the war. There was a reason why he had been put in charge of an entire Corps.

"And since when, has the Council led by emotion and injured pride?"

Ki-Adi Mundi gaped at him.

"Kenobi," Mace scolded.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "I endangered Master Tahl's life, I disobeyed Qui-Gon's direct orders, and indirectly, yours, but I did not betray the Order. You sent Master Tahl-"

"And it was too dangerous for her to stay-"

"Then you shouldn't have sent her alone," Obi-Wan said without raising his voice, his calm more apparent than Mace's. "That wasn't just a civil war, it was people slaughtering their own children, it was children learning to kill before they learned how to read. The Jedi Order doesn't _have to_ do anything, but if we don't stop things like that what is our purpose at all? Because things like that, is what you raised me to believe Jedi Knights were for."

"Our purpose is to serve the Force," Mace said.

Obi-Wan raised his brow, "So then, tell me, _High Council_ was it against the will of the Force for me to stay on Melida/Daan? Was it against the will of the Force for me to meet Ahsoka, Cody, and Rex? Was it against the Force's will when it was the Force itself that led me to find Asajj Ventress?"

Before any of the Council could formulate a response, Master Jinn said, "He's right. Without these things happening, the four of them would not have been here. They saved our younglings and Master Ali-Alann. They saved the entire Temple from being bombed, and the defeated Xantos."

Dooku nodded, "And they warned us about the Sith, a threat we thought extinct for the last thousand years. As Xantos proved, a mere fallen Padawan, we are not prepared for the Sith of old to come after."

Ahsoka warned, "Don't mistake them for their predecessors. The Sith always brag about being more powerful than their Masters. I don't know if that's true, but while the Order has been sitting back watching the galaxy spin, the Sith have been planning their revenge for a thousand years."

Sifo-Dyas nodded, "My Master is going to be pleased when she hears this."

Ahsoka frowned, "Why would she be pleased?"

Dooku chuckled, "Master Lene Kostana has been warning about a Sith uprising since I was a youngling."

"Longer," Tyvokka growled.

Ki-Adi Mundi shook his head, "This is not about Padawan Tano, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan said nothing, just waited for them to continue.

Yoda picked up the interrogation, "Put yourself in great danger, you did."

Obi-Wan grinned, "You have _no_ idea."

The tips of Master Piell's ears turned further down, "A warzone is no place for a young Padawan alone."

Ahsoka didn't laugh, because it wasn't funny, and it saddened her that not even three generations back that had been the Council's policy.

Oh, she knew that the Jedi Padawans often crossed into warzones, but their fights were expected to be passing, third parties, and they were always shielded by their Masters. Certainly, mistakes happened, but no Padawan had ever been placed in charge of thousands of troops. Though she supposed times of galactic civil war was something else.

Obi-Wan shrugged, "Yet you are the ones who sent me there. And even with Qui-Gon, we were ambushed and almost killed several times."

"Are you questioning the Council?" Mace asked.

Ahsoka fought herself not to smile.

"I'm not aware that I phrased that as a question," Obi-Wan said blandly.

The Council just stared at him, even Master Jinn and Dooku were frowning at him now.

Obi-Wan wasn't thirteen, no matter what he looked like. Maybe the scarring would help him hide this transformation.

For some reason, the Force wanted him to hide, or be hidden in plain sight, for whatever reason.

Sure enough, that was what Mace caught onto, "Padawan Kenobi, how many injuries did you sustain during your months apart from us?"

Saesee Tiin followed up with, "And how did those injuries occur?"

Ahsoka squeezed Obi-Wan's hand as she felt his palm become a bit clammy, it was the only sign of his discomfort as he said, "Are you asking me to detail my being tortured by Zygerrians, chased around by Sith apprentices, and so on and so forth?"

Only she, Cody, and Rex, really understood the beatings and situations he had gotten into. She knew he drove Cody mad with worry. While Rex and Ahsoka knew they had no right to question him on his health, not when Master Kenobi had put himself in harm's way countless times for them and Anakin, their men, and really anyone who needed him.

She also knew Rex worried less about his own General because Master Skywalker was like a Hammerhead-class cruiser, he got hurt a lot, but he was more likely to kill his opponent.

Obi-Wan still tried to hold back from killing in many cases, if he was a better war strategist than Anakin, then Anakin was the better soldier. It was Obi-Wan's reluctance to kill, that got him so very, very hurt so much of the time.

That was something Skyguy had actually sat her down for:

_Listen, Snips, I know Master Kenobi is a great role model and that he is an even better Jedi than I am. But when we are on the battlefield, you are a Commander before you are a Jedi. You are young and the enemy is either literally heartless or the sort of people who really don't deserve to keep breathing. I know that won't always be true, I know things get complicated._

_But Snips, look at me, you are fourteen years old, Obi-Wan is a Master with two decades of training on you. From here on out, it is going to be kill or be killed, kill or get the brother and sisters and civilians around you killed._

_This isn't a game, and yes, you are still in training, but no one out there cares._ _When you fight, win._

Of course, she did still hold back from killing when she could, but even now, she was more likely and willing to take a life than Obi-Wan was.

Obi-Wan focused his gaze on Saesee Tiin, "Are you asking me to outline everything that has happened to me while I was not a part of the Order? Without my lightsabre, without any kind of word or support from the Order at all?"

Ahsoka knew that tone, it was the ultra-pleasant voice he used when he was well and truly ticked-off and the only reason he wasn't screaming at you was because he was a Master Jedi sitting on the High Council.

But Saesee Tiin wasn't as wise as he thought he was because he said, "Yes, additionally, this office needs to know how much you have been hurt to ascertain your immersion back into the Order."

Obi-Wan smiled at him, and Ahsoka let go of his hand.

It took a great deal of will power not to step back from the Master masquerading as a Padawan. She knew what kind of power he held beneath his shields.

"You want me to describe my torture to the entirety of the High Council?" he asked politely.

Sifo-Dyas opened his mouth to say something and Qui-Gon stepped forward only making it to Rex's side as Saesee took the question at face-value, "Yes."

Obi-Wan smirked, "No."

Adi Gallia chided, "Obi-Wan, be reasonable."

Obi-Wan folded his hands in his sleeves, "I am being reasonable. I'm not going to tell Master Che how I got my scars either the physical or mental ones, I'm certainly not going to you all."

"But you faced a Sith," Tiin interjected, "We need to know."

"I can confirm his description, I can tell you he uses Form VII, I can tell you he wouldn't hesitate to kill any of us and that he is very hard to kill. But Ahsoka already told you that, and now that you have seen her fight, you should be able to guess how much more powerful her Master is. What else do you need to know?"

"Can you remember no other details?" Mace asked.

 _Bisection doesn't work,_ Ahsoka thought for him, but Obi-Wan answered seriously, "We know nothing about Darth Maul's Master, we don't even know if the Master of the Master is alive or if they have other apprentices. And I think we should be more worried about them than Maul. Maul is like a brutal assassin, but he's not independent. He seeks to please his Master, he seeks revenge, but he isn't the one pulling the strings."

"What strings?" Sifo-Dyas asked.

Obi-Wan met his gaze, "I don't know, but whatever it is, their goal will be to destroy the Jedi Order and break the Republic."

And they had succeeded, Ahsoka thought, Barriss's words came back to her:

_I did it. Because I've come to realize what many people in the Republic have come to realize, that the Jedi are the ones responsible for this war. That we've so lost our way that we have become villains in this conflict, that we are the ones that should be put on trial, all of us!_

_And my attack on the Temple was an attack on what the Jedi have become: an army fighting for the dark side, fallen from the Light that we once held so dear. This Republic is failing! It's only a matter of time._

Ahsoka didn't, couldn't, agree with what Barriss had done. But her words had struck something true.

The question was, had the Jedi Order already fallen by this point? Was the war the cause of their descent or had it just revealed the rot and complacency underneath how they conducted themselves in the wider galaxy?

In choosing, again and again, the Senate over the Force.

She glanced at Qui-Gon, the man who had become a legend in her memory, he didn't seem so great, even if she knew he was the one who found Anakin on Tatooine.

Her gaze flicked to Dooku, whose bust had sat in the archives among the Lost Twenty, the man who had waged against the Jedi and everything they stood for.

But had he left Order for the same reason Barriss had? For the same reason she and even Obi-Wan had left the Order?

Where they really so different?

The Council wasn't always right, the Senate didn't care enough about its people, and sometimes the Force called louder than home did.

Maybe being Dooku's Padawan wouldn't be _wholly_ awful. Besides, if she ever got sick of him she could just think of Anakin's expression if he had ever discovered that his apprentice had been knighted under Count Dooku...

Yep, that expression would be worth it.

When no one spoke, Obi-Wan said, "It could be possible that the Sith have some measure of control over some within the Senate itself."

"Our place to question the Senate, it is not," Yoda said.

Oddly, it wasn't her or Obi-Wan who made a sound, but Dooku and Master Jinn who made soft sounds of indication and both wore 'intense disapproval' frowns.

No one could 'intense disapproval' frown like a Jedi Master.

Yoda gave his own disapproving look to Dooku, his once Padawan, "Discussion for Padawans, this is not. Tell us, you must Obi-Wan, occur what else did, while parted from us, you were?"

Obi-Wan looked at him, "I've already told you."

"Captured you were, by Zygerrian slavers," Yoda said, "What to you, have they done?"

She had seen Obi-Wan loose patience with Anakin. Which even for Anakin, was an accomplishment, at least by the time she had become his apprentice. But even then Obi-Wan wasn't prone to snap, he just ramped up his sarcasm with Anakin, and he did the same now, "I'm sorry, since when does the being eight centuries old Grandmaster need a lesson on what one of the Jedi's oldest enemies do to a Jedi Padawan?"

Yoda didn't seem to know how to answer to that tone, she doubted any Padawan ever spoke to him like that without immediately apologizing.

Obi-Wan didn't ask for forgiveness.

She realized then, that maybe Obi-Wan didn't want to be a Jedi anymore, or at least he didn't want to go through this life again.

"Do not," Mace intoned, "Speak to the Grandmaster like that."

"Or what?" Obi-Wan asked, "You'll kick me out? Refuse Qui-Gon a Padawan?"

Mace glowered at him, "You don't sound if you wish to rejoin the Order at all, young one."

Ahsoka watched Qui-Gon's face, not Obi-Wan's, and she saw the pain in the older man's eyes.

"What I want is for you to make your choice to keep me or let me go and to stop poking at me. If I'm old enough to be left on my own then I'm old enough to keep my own council. I was not on a mission for the Order or the Senate, I was not even within Republic boundaries once I left Melida/Daan. What happened to me is my business."

Ahsoka knew he was thinking more of the time travel than the Zygerrians at this point. It was one thing to be trapped in a younger body, it was another thing to have his old coworkers and friends talk down to him while simultaneously picking at old wounds.

"What did you do to get free of the Zygerrians?" Saesee asked, not giving an inch.

But Ahsoka didn't miss all the unfriendly looks he got from around the room, even from Master Tahl. It seemed everyone had been at least a bit chastened by Obi-Wan words, except Master Tiin."

"I survived them," Obi-Wan said flatly.

Saesee frowned, "How did you manage to make allies with two Mandalorians and a Sith apprentice?"

Rex stepped up between her and Obi-Wan, putting a hand on their shoulders, "We survived together."

Ahsoka grinned mischievously, beyond ready to take the heat off of Obi-Wan, "Yep, nothing bonds a family together like waging war."

"You started a war?" Sifo-Dyas asked worriedly.

Ahsoka smiled at him innocently, "Maybe."

Qui-Gon seemed to have reached his limit, "If you let her into the Order, you can't possibly deny Obi-Wan his place back among us."

"And if you don't, you will lose all four of them," Tahl stated.

"Have you forgiven him then?" Mace asked, "Have you decided to take him back as your Padawan, Master Jinn?"

Qui-Gon folded his hands in his sleeves, the same gesture Obi-Wan made sometimes and was making right now.

"I already have," he answered.

"Without our approval?" Adi Gallia asked.

Qui-Gon's response left no room for debate, "If you do not take Obi-Wan back, I will leave them and-"

"No!" Sifo-Dyas exclaimed, making almost everyone in the room jump, "This is all just formality, we already decided to invite Obi-Wan back, but you cannot leave."

"Why not?" Dooku asked.

Sifo-Dyas met his gaze, "Because for the first time in weeks, might nightmares have stopped. The future is brighter, for the first time in a long time, I have hope that there is a way out, that the future I have glimpsed is escapable."

Dooku frowned, "What have you seen?"

"Death," Sifo-Dyas said, "and fear and sorrow, I saw-" his voice cut off.

Ahsoka wondered how many of his visions were things she had lived through.

Sifo-Dyas took a deep breath, he closed his brown eyes for a moment, his black hair streaked with grey falling over his shoulders as he bowed his head.

"What do you see now, my old friend?" Dooku asked with surprising gentleness.

Sifo-Dyas opened his eyes, "Nothing, I sense impressions still, my curse has not left me, but the Force… There are no more warnings except for one certainty, we must not force them out. The Force meant for them to be here."

Yoda sighed, "Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, once more you are."

Obi-Wan smiled, and he bowed but not in Yoda's direction but to Sifo-Dyas.

"Great, not that that's over," Cody said, he loomed over Obi-Wan, "Back to the healer."

"I'm fine-"

"Healer, now, Kenobi," Cody said, putting a hand on his other shoulder as he and Rex began to direct Obi-Wan to the exit.

"Cody-" he tried to say in a commanding tone, only for his voice to crack, making the word sound like a whine, making him look like the thirteen year old he appeared to be.

Master Jinn stepped into stride with Ahsoka, and he said with a stern voice and mirth filled eyes, "Listen to your father, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan glanced over his shoulder and shot back, "Brat."

Qui-Gon laughed.

Ahsoka grinned when she saw the flare of joy on Obi-Wan's face. He could be as conflicted as he wanted to be about being in the past, about being a Padawan again.

But it was clear as starlight, that Obi-Wan had missed this strange Master terribly. And no matter what history was between them, Obi-Wan still loved him dearly.

* * *

AN: Thoughts or feedback, or turtles, pretty please?


	6. Speculation

WARNING: I am continuing to break away from canon and Legends a bit.

Chapter 6 - Speculation

Cody was finally getting his General to a healer. Granted, they had been here yesterday, but for the first time since he had first met Obi-Wan, they could actually prioritize the man's health.

The Order and the galaxy were in danger, but there was nothing pressing, no emergency to run off to.

Ahsoka, Rex, and kriffing Count Dooku left them at the entrance.

Master Tahl had been about to turn away too, but Obi-Wan called out, "It's alright, if you don't want to go, I mean."

Cody was glad he was wearing his helmet and no one saw his sceptical. Obi-Wan must have had his reasons, but it was odd for him to welcome people into his private matters. But turning to look at the two Jedi Masters, Cody caught the flash of relief on Qui-Gon's face.

If Tahl was destined to die, and she had been this man's lover, Obi-Wan must have liked seeing them together.

Cody wondered how close Obi-Wan had been to Master Tahl.

Master Che raised her head up at them, the twi'lek looked astonished to see them. "I just cleared you yesterday," she said, "How much trouble could you have possibly have found when you were supposed to be on bed rest?"

Cody answered before Obi-Wan could say something that downplayed his condition, "I told you I would bring him back if anything concerning arose."

She stood from her seat, "What's wrong?"

Obi-Wan tried to shrug off Cody's hand, "Nothing, just scars."

Che pointed them toward a private room, and Cody had to nearly push Obi-Wan.

The man was stubborn to the last.

The two Masters followed Che and the door closing behind them.

"Let me see," the healer demanded, "Don't give me that look, Padawan, you escaped me once, it won't happen again."

Obi-Wan sighed dramatically and began to disrobe, he began with his boots so it was a minute who so be.

Che froze, her eyes going wide as she stared at the damage.

Tahl gasped loudly, and exclaimed, "Oh, Obi-Wan! You look horrid!"

Cody spun on her.

Then he realized the obvious.

She was blind.

Obi-Wan started to laugh.

Tahl pointed a finger at him, "It's no laughing matter, Padawan Kenobi, you're so ugly now that you'll never be able to get a peace treaty signed."

Obi-Wan laughed harder even as Master Che began looking him over.

Glancing at Qui-Gon's strained expression as he stared at the damage done to his Padawan, Cody realized Tahl's humour was as much for Obi-Wan as it was for Qui-Gon. He turned his attention back to the healer.

"When did you get these?" Che asked.

"Does it matter? They healed," Obi-Wan said.

Cody would have told her, but saying 'about a year ago' would be impossible in this timeline.

Che frowned at him. "Yes, they have, and rather well. What are these?" she asked, touching very lightly the burns on his arms.

"Lightsabre burns, there's a few on my legs."

Qui-Gon stepped forward, "That looks like the damage you would get from a Makeshi opponent."

"Maul was skilled in Nimron as well as Form VII, so it's possible he borrowed," Obi-Wan said.

"And you didn't mention this to the Council?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Well maybe I would have if the Council had kept asking questions about the Sith rather than questioning my loyalties," Obi-Wan retorted.

Che ignored their bickering and asked, "And this?"

Obi-Wan frowned at the wider scar on his abdomen, "I honestly don't remember."

"Why?" she demanded.

He shrugged, "I was busy with other things, and I really don't care about the scars."

"Do you care that you were hurt?" she asked less harshly.

"It hurt at the time, but I survived. That's more than a lot of people could have said."

"And how do you feel about surviving?"

"I enjoy not being dead," he said pleasantly, his cultured voice sounding endearing in his younger form.

"Do you have many nightmares?" she asked.

Obi-Wan didn't answer that one.

Cody answered for him, "Yes, he does."

Obi-Wan didn't look at him.

Che nodded and had Obi-Wan do a few stretches before having him sit on the examining table.

She shined a light in his eyes and tapped on his reflex points.

Cody wasn't a medic, but even to him, Obi-Wan looked a bit unsteady and his reflexes seemed to lag.

"You may get dressed," Master Che said, turning to a datapad and entering in data at rapid-fire speed.

"So, all good?" Obi-Wan asked brightly.

Che hummed, then picked up a weighted ball from her desk that appeared to be a decoy piece, Courscant's surface image sparking inside of it.

And then the healer pitched it at Obi-Wan with surprising Force.

Obi-Wan yelped as he tried to catch it, fumbled it, and was sent careening to the floor as he just barely saved the thing from shattering against the tiles.

Cody had his blaster pointed at her before he could think.

Master Che gave him an amused look, putting a hand on the barrel and to lower it. Cody relented, by lowering his blaster fully.

"Body dysmorphia," Che announced, "And likely some trauma. You are dealing very well with your injuries, Padawan Kenobi, but what you refuse to face in your mind, your body has been left to deal with. Your body remembers the trauma even if you refuse to." She looked at Cody, "You need to make sure he keeps hydrated, that he eats three meals a day, and sleeps. The way he is now, I believe he will ignore his body's needs."

Cody could have told her that the day they met. He offered Obi-Wan a hand up without reminding him how un-Jedi-like his lack of reflexes was. After all, Cody had realized how jelly legged his General was since arriving in the past.

She turned to Qui-Gon, "And I'm afraid I can't clear him for active duty until his mind and body find a compromise."

Qui-Gon nodded.

Obi-Wan looked thoroughly put out, "Please tell me you aren't sentencing me to a month of bed rest?"

Cody swallowed a laugh, General Kenobi would rather fly through a droid asteroid field than be put on bed rest.

Che smiled, "Quite the opposite, my young friend. I want you to train, train until you can move without tripping over your own feet and have time to react to the warnings the Force gives you."

He smiled at her, "I take back every disparaging thing I've ever thought about you."

She huffed at him, "Well then off with you, I want you to rest for the rest of the day. The Council meeting couldn't have been fun."

Qui-Gon smirked, "I can assure you, Master Che, the Council had even less fun."

Che gave the man an exasperated look, "Do you know why, Master Jinn, the Grandmaster pushed so strongly for little Obi-Wan to become _your_ apprentice?"

Qui-Gon raised his brows, "No, but by your tone, I assume this reason isn't going to be complementary to myself?"

"Obi-Wan can be quite impatient," Che said, giving Obi-Wan a wry smile which Obi-Wan returned in equal measure, "But he was also one of Yoda's favourite younglings. He followed the rules, did our Obi-Wan, listened to our history, memorized the Code before any of his other creche mates. Yoda hoped he would be a good influence on you."

Obi-Wan snorted, "Yeah, that worked out well."

Qui-Gon looked worriedly at Obi-Wan but said nothing.

For Cody, this is how Obi-Wan had always been, since the beginning. Cody was pretty sure the war had pushed the man to his limits, but his personality hadn't changed.

That Anakin Skywalker, more particularly, _raising_ Anakin Skywalker through his teenage years had been more harrowing than a galactic war was something Cody could almost believe.

But Obi-Wan had changed. After Duchess Satine's death, Obi-Wan had grown quieter, more reserved as if he hadn't lost faith in the galaxy, but he had lost faith in his personal happiness.

When Obi-Wan hadn't spoken up at Ahsoka's trial, that had been Cody's wake up call that something inside his General had broken, some disconnect between who he was as a man and his supposed duty.

Of course, that was a fault he supposed they shared.

Che clapped her hands and shewwed Obi-Wan out, "Alright, off with you, I need to speak with your Master and father."

Obi-Wan narrowed his gaze on her, "Speak with them _about_ me?"

"Are you going to detail to me what you've been through?"

"No," he said.

"Then I will speak to the adults about your condition."

He frowned up her, "Cody isn't going to share with you, all you'll have is speculation."

"Well then, I would like to share my speculations. Now out of my ward, Padawan Kenobi."

Tahl laid a hand on his shoulder, then dropped her hand just above his elbow, "Come, Padawan, I promise not to ask you probing questions. But I warn you, I may not be able to restrain myself in remarking on hideous you've become. And fat, most unseemly for a Jedi your age."

Obi-Wan smiled, "Of course, Master Tahl, and please, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself. And it is good to know these things about one's appearance. Perhaps you can help me think up ways to not scare civilians during peace treaty signings?"

Tahl hummed as they approached the door, "Perhaps you should always wear your hood, say you have a rare skin condition to starlight."

"But what if it's a cloudy night or we are indoors?"

"You're right," she said, sighing heavily, "There's no help for you then, you'll have to wear a full bodysuit. You're just so _ugly_ , Obi-Wan."

The door closed behind them, and Cody took off his helmet, glaring at the door, "How much trouble do you think the two of them could get into alone?"

"Probably best not to think about it too long," Qui-Gon said with a smile in his eyes, before his expression sobered and he looked at Master Che, "How bad is he, really?"

Che sighed, "Physically, aside from his hand-eye coordination, and possibly his muscles being untrained due to how much healing he has undergone, he is in the peak of health. However, mentally? Can you tell me how much his personality has changed since you saw him?"

"Drastically," Qui-Gon said, "I mean, he's always had a sense of humour, but his sarcasm is… quite jaded at times. And he's completely unafraid of the Council. Obi-Wan respects authority, even if loses his temper… but he didn't lose his temper today."

Cody chuckled.

They both looked at him and asked in unison, "What?"

Cody kept his expression even as he said, "He was incredibly angry today. I'm surprised he put up with that interrogation as long as he did."

Qui-Gon frowned, "But he didn't lose his temper."

Cody shrugged, "Then I have never seen him lose his temper. But I assure you, he was angry today."

Qui-Gon stroked his beard, a gesture Obi-Wan had inherited, "I don't believe the last three months could have taught him such control over his emotions."

Cody agreed, but he still said in Obi-Wan's defence, "You said that Obi-Wan should be afraid of the Council, but what does he have to fear from them? He was already in exile and he had us. The Council had nothing to offer him in truth, and nothing they could take away. It isn't as if he was afraid of them physically, and he knows what true fear is now."

Qui-Gon's eyes widened, "He lost people, didn't he?"

Cody met his gaze, "He went to war, he became a leader, of course, he lost people. People died because of his actions, his directions. He is not the child you perceive him to be."

Che rubbed her temple, "I myself don't understand his personality shift. He should be traumatized. That sweet, impulsive boy I knew... I checked his wounds right before he went to Bandomeer. He was in tears because he had hurt another boy, because he was afraid of what was going to happen to him, a boy that good cannot change so-"

"He is still good," Cody told her softly, "But maybe this change isn't so dramatic, perhaps these hardships he survived just revealed the person beneath. He is hurting, but he isn't broken, not by half."

Cody knew this, because he had seen General Kenobi cry for Waxer, for the men they lost at one of his Order's actions.

A broken General wouldn't have blinked an eye at another clone lost, even if it had been hundreds or thousands of them. Obi-Wan was perhaps heartbroken, but he wasn't defeated.

Che sighed, "I think his biggest danger will be to himself. If who he is is being so caring to everyone else that he doesn't prioritize his own safety, it will get him killed one day."

Qui-Gon ran a hand over his dark brown hair, "How- What am I supposed to do with that? Train him to be selfish? Tell him to prioritize his own emotions? I know I am not one to bow to the Code, but I don't necessarily know how to push him to care about himself. And to tell him if he wants to help others than he must help himself first does not go deep enough for what you are describing."

Che hugged herself, "Be there for him. I wasn't joking about the training. I think he might have to relearn everything, or at least his body does. His reflexes were very slow, Qui-Gon."

Cody mulled over their words. Obi-Wan was not as lost as they thought. He stood up to the Council, he didn't let them hurt him, not emotionally.

Though Cody knew that just being in the past, where everything was familiar, but no one knew him for the man he had become or had the depth of friendships he had made was a torture in its own right.

Qui-Gon nodded, "I'm in no rush. I feel as though I have a lot to learn about my apprentice."

"We all do," Cody said, realizing that even what he knew of his General was mostly speculation.

* * *

Obi-Wan had forgotten how much he missed Tahl.

Truly missed her.

She was a light in the world, with a more innate touch to the Living Force than even Qui-Gon had.

It made her intense, sharp witted, and rash, but it also meant that joy swirled around her like sunshine and made her seem more alive, more awake than others.

Obi-Wan had a much firmer grasp of the Cosmic Force, a fact that made him far more reliant on patience and being reflective.

Things that Qui-Gon had tried to teach him, and things that Anakin had helped him master.

Because, truly, if it wasn't for patience, he probably would have succumbed to chaining Anakin to the floor of mediation room and throwing sand at him anytime the Padawan talked back to him or pouted or whined.

Unethical, maybe, be one could always dream.

But being in Tahl's presence again, he let go of his worries about the past/future go and simply basked in her luminosity.

A moment that was shattered when they crossed into the Padawan dorm areas. When Tahl had informed him that some of his belongings were still there he had thought nothing of it.

He had forgotten that his old friends would be there too.

Seeing the young visage of Siri Tachi was much more shocking than seeing Cerasi.

Siri glared at him, "I heard you were invited back." Her blue eyes flicked to Tahl, and her lips curled as she mouthed, _You don't deserve it, traitor._

Obi-Wan blinked at her, completely forgetting that the woman he had lost his virginity to had hated his guts at this point in theirs.

And that's when it really hit him; Duchess Satine was alive too.

His heart skipped and then broke as he realized he was twenty-five years older than them all and that they were children.

They wouldn't remember him, and he couldn't pretend to be who he had been. He was in the past, in his old body, but he didn't belong here, he was not the same person.

He wasn't their peer, he was a Council Member and a glorified War Lord.

"Obi-Wan?" Tahl asked softly.

He shook himself. Body-dysmorphia, Master Che had called it, the act of him hating his body, hating himself.

Obi-Wan sucked in a breath, he was Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, he could do better than this.

He had to.

"Hi, Siri, hope you've been well," he said pleasantly, really wishing he had thought harder about coming down here.

She glared at him, "Fine, while you were off gallivanting in the galaxy, I was chosen as a Padawan by Master Adi Gallia."

"Congrationaltions," he said seriously.

Bant came out of her room, "Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan!" she rushed him, and pulled him into a hug. Tahl stepped back allowing Obi-Wan to wrap his arms around her. "What happened to you? Why did it take you so long to get back home? I heard you beat Xanatos!" She pulled back from him and almost shook him.

He shrugged, "I stopped a civil war, encountered some Mandalorians, some pirates, you know, really boring stuff. And Padawan Ahsoka Tano was the one to defeat Xanatos, she is Master Dooku's Padawan."

Even Siri gaped at him, then stated with a scowl, "You did not fight Mandalorians."

Obi-Wan grinned at her, "Nope, they adopted me. Rex even taught me how to swear in Mandalorian."

Technically, Satine had during their year on the run, but Obi-Wan had heard Rex mutter serval oaths under his breath.

Bant's expression fell, "So, you are leaving?"

He shook his head, "No, Cody and Rex made a deal with the Council, they joined the Order. Which is why I'm here, my new room assignment is with them and Ahsoka."

Siri blinked at him, "Who is Ahsoka Tano? I've never heard of her and are they Force sensitive."

"Rex and Cody? No."

"Then how could they join the Order?" Siri asked.

"It was the only way Cody and Rex would have allowed Ahsoka and myself to join the Order," he answered.

"You say as if you weren't one of us, as if it's okay you left the Order, it isn't," Siri said harshly.

Tahl stepped in then, "Actually, it is. Not that I would advise any Padawan or initiate to enter a war at your ages, but the Order is not a cult. You were raised here, but you are all free to pursue your own paths."

Siri looked chastened but she still said, "But once you leave, you can't come back."

"Come back as a Jedi Padawan?" Tahl clarified, "No. The path to Knighthood is rigorous and demands commitment. Obi-Wan's circumstances were certainly an exception, not the rule. But that does not mean you could not leave and return to serve the Temple or the corps. We will always be each other's people."

While Tahl spoke, Obi-Wan slipped into his old rooms and picked up his few belongings, things he had moved on from in his own.

"Why did they accept you back?" Bant asked in curiosity as he emerged back into the hall.

Obi-Wan shrugged, "I have no idea, I insulted the entire Council. And that was after Ahsoka tried assassinating Master Dooku. Who knows what the Council was thinking. Tahl, are you ready?"

Siri and Bant stared at Obi-Wan in silent horror as they tried to translate what he said into something sensible.

Tahl smirked at him and gave him a short nod. When he touched her hand, she followed his arm to his elbow. It wasn't that she couldn't walk on her own. But it was the polite thing for him to do, and it was still easier for her than having to focus so heavily on her surroundings.

She had only been blind a few months, it wasn't an easy transition, even for someone who was as strong with the Force as she was.

"Bye Bant, bye Siri, and congratulations again," he said, not quite running but not dawdling either.

By the time Tahl left him at the door of his apartment, Obi-Wan felt quite done being a Padawan.

Only ten more years.

Force help him, he _was_ going to graduate early this time.

Rex was drinking hot chocolate when he entered, staring out the window at the traffic sparkling in the sunlight.

He gave spoke to Obi-Wan in sign language, telling him that Ahsoka had locked herself in her room.

Obi-Wan dropped his small bag at the entrance to his own room, before knocking on Ahsoka's door that was directly beside his.

Somewhat amusingly, Cody and Rex got the 'master suit' and share a bed. Granted it was a large bed, but Obi-Wan hadn't realized that when they introduced themselves as Ahsoka and his fathers that it would be assumed they were a couple.

The apartment they had been given was closer to Master Dooku's rooms. The main difference to these rooms and most others in the Temple was that there were actual beds with thickish mattresses. Most rooms had mats or mats on frames. For some species that wasn't great, nor for some of their older residents.

"Ahsoka?" he called when he heard no answer.

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, and I'm thirteen, let me in."

The door swooped open and swooped shut behind him as he entered. She hadn't even stood, sitting on her bed gazing at the sunlight reflecting off the wall across from her.

He sat down beside her. He said nothing, and they watched together the sunlight and its corresponding shadows cross the wall.

At sunset, Ahsoka finally spoke, never turning her gaze to his, "I remember Mortis, I remember everything."

He looked at her, at this brave young female who had lived through far too much, "We asked too much of you."

"No," she said, "I wanted to be a Jedi Knight, I wanted to serve the Force. The Force led me to Mortis."

"And what did you learn?" he asked gently.

She took in a deep breath, "That the Sith are wrong." Ahsoka finally turned her blue eyes to him, "But Obi-Wan, the Jedi are wrong too." Tears spilled down her cheeks, "But I don't know what the right path is, I- I only know that I must remain in the Light because Dooku was right, the Darkness is stronger. It's winning. It's-"

He pulled her into his arms, his much smaller arms, but that didn't stop her from holding back onto him as he rubbed her back, "Coruscant was not built in a day. The Force has given us time to create something better."

"We aren't the Chosen One," she whispered.

He hugged her tighter, "Maybe it's not our job to fix the Force, maybe it's our job to create a place, a community, a people that he would call home."

Because Ahsoka had spoken with him in the past about how her Master never seemed to fit in or be comfortable in the Temple.

"Maybe we can lead our people toward something sustainable and not caught without options during a galactic civil war," he said, sharing his fragile bit of hope with her.

"I miss Anakin," she mumbled into his shoulder.

Obi-Wan felt that loss more deeply than he was ready to face. Yes, Anakin would still be born, but he wouldn't be their Anakin. He wouldn't be Ahsoka's Master and friend, any more than he would be Obi-Wan's Padawan and brother. It would never be as it had been.

If war had taught him anything, it was change came at a great cost. He just hoped that the pain they were in now would suffice.

But he didn't offer Ahsoka any sage advice, Obi-Wan just admitted to his own bleeding heart, "I miss him too."

* * *

AN: Yet another chapter? If you're enjoying this story please consider dropping a comment or review?


	7. So It Begins

AN: I’m trying really hard to finish _The Kenobi Scandal_ , but my stress level is so high I can’t focus on much. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this chapter in the mean time. A huge thank you Ahrnberg and Nauze!

Chapter 7 - So it Begins

Somehow, Obi-Wan had forgotten about classes. He had completely forgotten classes were even a thing.

Ahsoka too was looking down at her schedule with bewilderment.

At the start of Obi-Wan’s Padawanship, he had been sent on so many missions with Qui-Gon that he had been unable to participate in the advanced courses. Sure, he attended the odd lecture but never routinely. For Ahsoka, Padawan classes hadn’t even been offered. They had needed everyone, Padawan and Masters alike on active duty.

The younglings and initiates were only taught by the caretakers and their true elders among the Order.

“Are we going to have to write papers and do research?” Ahsoka asked.

Obi-Wan shrugged his shoulders, “It will be easier than writing battle reports.”

“Are you kidding? I don’t know Advanced Force Theory Living or Cosmic,” she protested.

He smiled, “Well, then this will be a learning experience.”

She rolled her eyes, “Have you taught these classes?”

He nodded, “A few, mostly when Anakin was younger. He had a hard adjustment period, his grasp on written Basic wasn’t great and he bounced between the Initiate and Padawan classes.”

“The last year of my Initiate training was almost all combat training.”

Obi-Wan sighed, “We were not prepared for war.”

“You two better get going,” Cody said, “Or you’ll be late to your first class.”

Ahsoka glanced at them, “What are you two going to do?”

“Research,” Cody and Rex said in unison.

Rex continued, “I’m tired of asking what’s going on. We will start catching up on current events, which isn’t going to get done in a day.”

Obi-Wan nodded, “Agreed.” He turned to Ahsoka, “Ready for a normal day at the Temple?”

“We are meeting up without our Masters after this, nothing about this is normal,” she said even as she went for the door.

He followed with a smile that he didn’t feel.

He should have felt happier than he did about this, but trepidation filled him as they went to the classrooms. Everyone else was there and immediately turned to stare at them, Sari Tachi, Bant Eerin, Galen Muln, Quinlan Vos, Kit Fisto, and Senior Padawan Depa Billaba. To Obi-Wan’s memory, there were other Padawans in this generation, but most of them were on the cusp of knighthood or were sent with Masters who spent most of their time off-world.

Obi-Wan immediately went to sit beside Kit, and Ahsoka claimed the spot between him and Quinlan. Bant and Galen gave him hurt looks, but Obi-Wan could explain not wanting to take the single seat between them for wanting to sit with Ahsoka.

Which was true, but what was also true, was that Obi-Wan would much rather rekindle friendships with Kit, Depa, and possibly even Quin, than his once age-mates.

But lucky for him, and unlucky for Ahsoka, everyone was a lot more interested in the Padawan who had ‘almost assassinated Dooku, her Master’ than the newly returned Padawan. 

Master Sifo-Dyas smiled at them all and began his lecture about the Cosmic Force. Obi-Wan began to lose interest rather quickly.

Master Sifo-Dyas was not a hack, but Obi-Wan had taught this class. His own visions tended to be nightmarish and while his way of dealing with it was to follow his hunches and not overreact to visions, Sifo-Dyas was promoting paying too much attention to visions.

Which was how the Sith had manipulated him into getting involved in making an army. Which got Obi-Wan thinking about all the threads of the war.

It had been a long time since he had the freedom to look at the war from a distant perspective, to go over battles and events in his mind without having to worry about the upcoming or even ongoing battle.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes as a deep wrongness overcame him. The Force itself seemed to be tugging him through his thought as if there was something painfully obvious that if he just could take a step further back-

“Padawan Kenobi,” Sifo-Dyas called, snapping him out of his thoughts.

The others were already getting up, the class apparently over, Ahsoka’s hand on his shoulder.

Obi-Wan looked up at the man who the Force had broken.

“I will expect a full report on the properties and known aspects of the Cosmic Force influence on Jedi culture,” he said.

Obi-Wan barely kept from rolling his eyes, “Of course, Master.”

All Obi-Wan had to do was write down one of his well-practised lectures to Anakin. 

He collected his things, his flimsy was untouched as he followed Ahsoka out.

“How did you like your first class?” Obi-Wan asked, smiling as he saw her bubbling with curiosity beside him.

“That was so much fun,” she said as the others surrounded them, Ahsoka noticeably tailoring her words to her audience, “I can’t say I liked research when I was younger, but the theoretical stuff fills in so many gaps.”

He grinned at her, “And you called me boring.”

She grinned back, “You never started your talks from the beginning. Master Sifo-Dyas is very linear in his lecture.”

Obi-Wan was about to say Anakin would have never let him finish a full lesson when Siri cut in.

“Did you really try to kill Master Dooku?”

“I heard you were a _Sith_ apprentice,” Quin said.

Galen snorted, “The Sith don’t exist anymore, everyone knows that.”

Ahsoka smiled, “Then everyone would be wrong because they do exist and yes, I did duel with Dooku and I almost won.”

“That’s how she got the apprenticeship with him,” Obi-Wan explained.

“That’s impossible,” Siri said.

Kit tilted his head and asked, “Is Master Dooku why you were allowed to join the Order, Ahsoka?”

Ahsoka shook her head, “No, I was tested by the Council.”

Obi-Wan was so glad that unlike the Initiate classes, Padawan classes were only once a day and optional if you were present at the Temple. It meant they wouldn’t have to deal with their peers being nosy overly much. He was likely the only one with homework as he had spaced off in class.

Ahsoka caught his arm before he headed toward their apartment, “Lunch, Obi-Wan.”

He sighed, “Fine.” Recovering his half trip as he pivoted on his heel by looping his arm with Ahsoka’s.

Bant looked at him with inquiring eyes, “How did you two meet?”

Ahsoka had had enough of being picked at, and she snapped, “That’s our business.”

Obi-Wan gave her a look, knowing her mood had more to do with training with Dooku later in the day than the other Padawans.

Ahsoka looked away from him.

“How do you like the Temple so far?” Kit asked.

Ahsoka’s shoulders eased, “There’s a peace here that I’ve never felt before.”

Obi-Wan felt her sadness ring with his own, this peace would not last forever.

“Kenobi, you alright?” Kit asked.

Obi-Wan smiled, “For now, yes.”

00000000000000000

Ahsoka was somewhat startled by the fact that Kit Fisto and Depa Billaba were her age now. Even Plo, might not even be a Master yet.

The reminder that even the Council had been young was strange, stranger even then seeing Obi-Wan at thirteen. After all, Master Obi-Wan was still Master Obi-Wan. But Kit wasn’t the Jedi she had fought beside on Mon Cala, nor was Depa the dark shadow of Mace Windu.

Jedi Padawans were gossips, but that had been cut short, the childhoods had all been cut short. So listening to this generation talk so freely, so carefree, as if the weight of the galaxy wasn’t on their shoulders was…

She wished she could have been like them, even knowing what was coming, she wished she had been a part of this.

Ahsoka picked at her meat as Obi-Wan chipped away at a bean dish.

“Obi-Wan said you defeated Xanatos,” Siri Tachi said.

Ahsoka shrugged, “He was a hack.”

Depa gaped at her, “He was a prodigy.”

Obi-Wan snorted, having raised Anakin he knew how false that was.

“I heard he caught you, Kenobi,” Quinlan Vos said.

Obi-Wan nodded, “He did, but I wasn’t armed.”

Depa stared at him, “Xanatos was Qui-Gon Jinn’s second Padawan-”

Obi-Wan dropped his fork, “Wh- wait, what? Second? Qui-Gon had a Padawan before Xanatos?”

Ahsoka found her brows rise, shouldn’t Obi-Wan have known that?

Depa nodded, “Yes, Knight Feemor, his first Master died and Qui-Gon finished his training. But when Xanatos fell, Qui-Gon cut himself off from the Order. My Master said he nearly defected from the Order and was going to join the monks on Jedha.”

Obi-Wan looked stunned by this knowledge.

“What brought him back?” Ahsoka asked.

Depa shrugged, “My Master didn’t tell me. He was just explaining to me why he didn’t think Yoda’s plan to match Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan together would work.”

Phrased that way, Ahsoka realized that Obi-Wan had been just like her after all. Neither of their Masters had truly chosen them, it was Yoda who had decided their fates.

“But how did you defeat Xanatos?” Quinlan asked, “He was able to beat Master Jinn once upon a time.”

Ahsoka shrugged, “The Dark Side made him sloppy and his ego made him predictable. I’ve had more trouble with bounty hunters than the likes of him.” She grinned at Obi-Wan, “Of course, Obi-Wan breaking his nose beforehand might have accounted for his lack of speed.”

All eyes went back to Obi-Wan, who shrugged, “He didn’t tie up my legs.”

“Amature,” he and she said together. They laughed while their peers stared at them as if they had gone insane.

Quinlan, however, turned to her with a sly grin, “I can’t wait to see you fight. Shaak Ti is away on a mission but it’ll be interesting to see which of you is the strongest Torgruta in the Order.”

Ahsoka bared her teeth, “There will be no competition.”

Master Shaak Ti was known for being a gentle soul, prided for her wisdom more than her strength in battle.

“There you are,” a familiar voice said, and Ahsoka turned to Rex and Cody with a real smile.

The Padawans around them eyes went large as the two ‘Mandalorians’ with the Jedi insignia emblazoned on their chests.

Bant, Siri, and Kit scrambled at their way as they sat beside her, Quinlan and Depa gave them wary eyes.

“How was the lecture?” Cody asked, looking at the Jedi around him. Likely the only one who he not might recognize Siri.

“It was interesting, Master Sifo-Dyas seems to be very knowledgeable about Force visions. Cody, Rex, these are Padawans Siri Tachi, Bant Eerie, Quinlan Vos, Kit Fisto, and Depa Billaba. Padawans, Obi-Wan and my legal guardians, Cody and Rex.”

Depa gave Ahsoka an odd look, “How did you know our names?”

“I told her,” Obi-Wan said easily, “Cody, were you given full access to the archives?”

Cody shook his head, “Everything that wasn’t in the vault and no access to the Jedi’s personal records. To be expected, of course. Nothing we were looking for would be in either of those places anyway.”

Rex sighed, “Personally, I would like to know more about Dooku and Qui-Gon. Even Sifo-Dyas’s background might prove fruitful.”

Obi-Wan ran a hand over his chin, “You could probably just ask them. I think Qui-Gon went on a mission to Serreno that involved Dooku and Syfo-Dyas that involved the Trade Federation. I don’t remember the details.”

Ahsoka felt herself close down, “You think the Trade Federation is already involved?”

“Those factors weren’t built in a day,” Obi-Wan said.

“Kamino is already off the records,” Cody noted.

Ahsoka was amused at their peers’ expressions as they tried following the conversation.

They had all agreed last night that the more hints they dropped the more likely others in the Temple would begin to investigate.

Telling the Council they were from the future would be met with suspicion and likely result in the geers being halted to not ‘alter the future unnecessarily’ however, if they kept revealing half truths and little tidbits, it was possible multiple Masters would get involved.

The Sith had been able to get ahead of the Order because none of the Masters and Knights were looking for it, their ignorance had been their downfall.

Their primary mission thus was to convince the Order that the Sith weren’t just out there, but plotting against them within politics.

And sure, the people listening in now were just Padawans now, but if the war started up again they would all be Generals or Council members.

Or dead.

Rex finished what he was eating before he said, “It’s a pity the Jedi aren’t more involved in the Senate. I found a general timeline of major events over the last thousand years since the Sith supposedly disappeared, and the Jedi gave up so much influence.”

The subtext there being that had the Jedi been truly a part of the Senate they would have more control over which battles they got involved in.

Kriff, maybe there wouldn’t have even been a war. The Jedi would have let the Separatists secede.

And maybe the Jedi would have been more patient with her hearing. As Obi-Wan had said, the Senate had forced their hand.

“Politics are evil,” Siri said.

Obi-Wan shrugged, “The Jedi made the Republic, the first Chancellors were all Jedi.”

“Besides,” Ahsoka added, “To that logic, the Order takes its command from the Senate which would make us evil.”

Quinlan laughed.

But Depa scowled, “What would you have us do? Go back to having Jedi Lords?”

Ahsoka had a strange thought then, would Dooku have remained in the Order if he had been allowed to be Lord of Serreno?

Obi-Wan spoke with that politician way of his, “I don’t know what circumstance that would fall under, but I do believe the Jedi Order should be able to tell the Senate no if they disagree.”

Siri, Depa, and Kit all stiffened, and Depa snapped, “It is a Jeda’s mandate to serve the Senate.”

Obi-Wan smiled sweetly at her, “I thought our mandate was to follow the will of the Force?”

“I couldn’t find anything on the Jedi messing with the Mandalorian system,” Rex interjected.

Obi-Wan tilted his head and gave a hand sign that translated to, _It hasn't happened yet._

Cody frowned and signalled back, _Why is there conflict?_

Obi-Wan’s smile was infectious, and he signalled back, _The Jedi pose a real challenge._

Rex snorted, “ _Jetii.”_

“More like Mandos,” Ahsoka said.

“You’re gone for three months and you learn a different language?” Quinlan asked Obi-Wan.

“It’s been a long three months,” Master Obi-Wan Kenobi said.

“You changed your hair style but didn’t cut your braid,” Siri noted.

Obi-Wan shrugged.

“Why are you talking about the Trade Federation?” Bant asked.

Ahsoka smiled, baring her teeth, “Because, they are working with the Sith to take down the Republic.”

Obi-Wan stood, “And with that, we have to go. Our Masters will be waiting for us.”

Cody and Rex, had long since finished their plates. Officers never really had free time.

They stood to follow Obi-Wan, leaving the others to stare at them numbly.

They were cute.

And innocent.

“I didn’t realize how much we lost,” she said quietly, “I was too young to remember how easy it used to be.”

Obi-Wan sighed, “Having Anakin as a Padawan, I came to realize our flaws. The war just revealed how deep they ran, how unprepared we were.”

“How are we going to fix this?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

Rex said, “We aren’t sending children into war. Not again.”

Cody nodded.

* * *

Qui-Gon wasn’t sure what he expected from Obi-Wan. Dooku had already informed him that Sifo-Dyas had said he ignored the morning lecture, something Obi-Wan was not known for. And despite having seen his Padawan fight already, Qui-Gon was torn with worry that he might trigger some relapse that Che had warned him about.

He did not want to hurt Obi-Wan anymore than he had done already.

But it was Ahsoka who stalked into the sparring room that caught Qui-Gon’s attention first. That she was a Sith apprentice was quite believable. Qui-Gon tried to tell himself Obi-Wan was okay as he watched the two Padawans stretch and Obi-Wan couldn’t even reach his toes.

Dooku was at his side, “It seems as though both of us will have our work cut out for us.”

Qui-Gon didn’t turn his gaze as he said, “At least I can trust my Padawan not to kill me.”

The corner of Dooku’s lips turned up, “That’s what makes this interesting.”

Qui-Gon shook his head, not quite sure how the Togruta would adjust to their lifestyle.

By the time the two Padawans were ready, Qui-Gon had convinced Dooku to let him take the lead, “For today, we will just going to go through the basics to see where you are at and then continue to see how much enderuence the two of you have as a base.”

They nodded without protest and Qui-Gon tossed Obi-Wan back his lightsaber, which he was thankfully able to catch.

“Start with Shii-Cho and then we can...” Qui-Gon shook his head, “What Forms would either of you like to work on?”

“Soresu,” Obi-Wan said without hesitation.

Ahsoka shrugged, “I use Ataru and Djem So.

Qui-Gon exchanged a look with Dooku, and Qui-Gon turned back to the young female, “Your preference is to use Ataru, which is the most demanding form in terms of channelling Force energy, and Djem So which is the most demanding form in terms of physical strength, on top of using Jar’Kai?”

She smirked, “Yes, it makes me hard to beat.”

Qui-Gon couldn’t argue that, but he asked, “Why not Juyo, like Darth Maul?”

And no, Qui-Gon wasn’t easily going to get used to speaking of the Sith in present tense.

Ahsoka shrugged, “Because it’s erratic and you have to master that Form before it becomes even remotely effective.”

“Then why not Niman?” Qui-Gon challenged.

Ahsoka shrugged, “Boring, all the Jedi know Niman. Besides you can’t throw yourself into that form like you can with Ataru and Djem So.”

Dooku finally spoke, “Those forms are a waste of energy.”

Ahsoka smiled at him, “It worked against you.”

“Had I understood you meant to kill me, little one, that duel would not have played out the same.”

“If we had planned it,” Obi-Wan said, a hard edge to his voice, “she wouldn’t have been fighting you alone, Master Dooku.”

Qui-Gon felt his brows raise, what reason could Obi-Wan possibly have for disliking Dooku enough to threaten him, or was he just that protective over Ahsoka?

Deciding he didn’t need a repeat of whatever it was that happened yesterday, Qui-Gon recovered, “Alright, Shii-Cho, from the both of you. Atura is my preferred form, Padawan Tano, so I can help you there.”

Dooku didn’t look happy about that, but he was wise enough to choose his battles.

Getting Ahsoka to not hate him came before trying to get her to pick a different form.

The two Padawans took positions, and began in unison.

Ahsoka’s every motion was fluid, as if she were dancing. It wasn’t a perfect demonstration of Shii-Cho, but then only those who mastered the form could do it perfectly, she clearly understood what she was doing. Her adaptations with Jar’Kai were most impressive indeed.

Obi-Wan, however…

Qui-Gon didn’t correct him. He could see that his Padawan was aware of his every misstep by his every flinch and the ever tightening of his jaw. It was almost painful watching him try to work his way through the form. His limbs were shaking, his feet stepping just off of where he should have landed.

But what was the worst, what all but broke Qui-Gon’s heart, was the way the Force seized around Obi-Wan.

Every time Obi-Wan tried to give himself and his frustration to the Force, the Force would evade him. This, particably, caused Obi-Wan to become more frustrated.

It was fascinating in a macabre sort of way, to realize that Obi-Wan was not in the least bit drawn to the Dark Side of the Force. He finally saw why Yoda had been so adamant about Qui-Gon taking the boy as his Padawan.

Yes, Obi-Wan Kenobi could be rash and had a temper, but he radiated light. Even now, where he was practically handicapped because he had been tortured and if Che was to believed, crippled by self-loathing and self-doubt, Obi-Wan wasn’t anywhere near reaching out to the Dark, not even the slightest bit tempted, as if for him, it wasn’t even an option.

Obi-Wan was one of those rare people who when he lost control of his emotions he wasn’t pulled into the Dark nature of the Force but rather disconnected from the Force altogether.

It was this realization that obliterated all of Qui-Gon’s own doubts about him. Because no matter what Qui-Gon did or didn’t do, Obi-Wan would be a Jedi Knight. He was polite and humble and didn’t believe himself worthy of being chosen.

But he had been willing to die for Qui-Gon before.

As he had been willing to go to war for strangers.

He was compassionate and selfless.

It was Qui-Gon’s job to teach him that he was as deserving as every other life form to his own life and happiness.

He went to the side wall and picked up a wooden staff. They often trained their Padawans and Knights to fight with things other than lightsabers in case of being undercover or being attacked without wanting to pull their lightsabers which had a way of escalating the fight.

“Alright,” Qui-Gon said, motioning them to rest.

Dooku immediately went into Ahsoka, critiquing her motions and what she could do with her second sabre. She listened stone faced, her unhappiness clear in the Force around her.

But she didn’t protest, not vocally at any rate.

Obi-Wan, seeing the staff in Qui-Gon’s hand, put his extinguished sabre back on his belt. 

He handed the boy the staff, “I want you to work the Soresu movements without trying to connect with the Force.”

Obi-Wan blinked at him, “Master?”

“In fact,” Qui-Gon said with a smile, “I would like you to work out your frustrations physically. Soresu, while not an aggressive form, is the form of endurance, and without using the Force to aid you, it should let you beat out your aggression through the steps. Almost as if you’ve gone for a run, but with more technical components to keep you from falling too deep into your thoughts. Which is why I’d prefer you to use the staff, so you need not concern yourself with accidentally injuring yourself if you make a mistake or grow fatigued.”

Obi-Wan’s brows pinched together, “You want me to embrace my aggression?”

Qui-Gon’s smile grew, “Yes. I trust you not drag on the Force and I will be here in the case that anything goes amiss.”

His Padawan looked baffled, “But I thought the entire point of being a Jedi is to _never_ embrace negative emotions.”

Qui-Gon shook his head, “To a point. But you must face your emotions before you can deal with them. Sometimes, dealing with them can be allowing them to play out. There are no enemies here, Obi-Wan, you can allow yourself to be angry and irrational.”

“But!-” he began before checking himself, “But Master Jinn, I was always taught that-”

“Control is necessary?” Qui-Gon surmised, “Yes, Padawan, but is it not control to choose when and how your emotions are expressed? Anger, any emotion, is not in itself wrong.”

“I know that,” he said sharply, “that is why we give our emotions to the Force.”

“In battle,” Qui-Gon argued, “Certainly. Emotions can be a distraction, and to work with the Light Side of the Force, you must clear your mind to be receptive, to hear the flow around you. But when you’re not in danger? What do you do with a surplus of emotions when you are free to act as you please?”

“Meditate?” Obi-Wan asked, seeming to understand that this wasn’t the answer Qui-Gon was looking for.

He laughed, “Yes, yes, you could meditate. Many Masters have found over years of self discipline that they can fully face their emotions in a meditative state and let them go. But even meditation can have its limits.”

“What are you saying?” Obi-Wan asked, “That it’s okay for a Jedi to be angry? That goes against everything everyone else has taught me.”

“Well, I am not everyone else, Padawan Kenobi. Emotions are not the problem, our attachment to emotions are. There are causes to our emotions, the trick is to disentangle them from reason. Anger, especially can often mislead people to believe that their anger is justified, is a reason to be right and another wrong. When really, anger is a chemical reaction triggered in our brains. We must work through the chemical reactions before we can address the triggers, before we can address the reasons with a clear head and open heart.”

Obi-Wan was staring up at him, his eyes too large, as if he was thinking of a million instances where this line of reasoning could be applicable.

Qui-Gon went on, “Even happiness. While joy can be a distraction, I personally do not believe it should be avoided on account of ‘emotional excess’ but you should be self-aware enough to view happiness as not being tied to its cause. A person or event that causes you joy should not be kept or continued because they cause happiness as happiness can only come from within. To think otherwise is to risk being possessive or chasing a thing that could never be as it was. Do you understand, Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan was staring at him with eyes full of regret and sorrow, as if this advice had come far too late.

“Obi-Wan?”

The boy bowed to him, “I understand, Master.”

Qui-Gon had a feeling he was missing something, but he motioned for Obi-Wan to go ahead.

He fumbled through the steps, but seemed to have a bit more success that he wasn’t trying to split his focus between connecting with the Force and the physical steps.

Qui-Gon watched for a minute before he went to go rescue his sister Padawan from their Master.

“Ready to start?” he asked when Dooku paused to take a breath.

Dooku scowled at him even as Ahsoka looked entirely too relieved.

Qui-Gon smiled, “I must admit, I’ve never sparred with anyone who uses Ataru and Jar’Kai.”

She took a stance, “Happy to provide the opportunity.”

He smiled at her, “And our Master will be happy to critique us both.”

Dooku called, “If she beats you, Qui-Gon, we will be having words.”

Qui-Gon winced, he had done pretty well avoiding his old Master since he graduated to Knight. He understood some of Ahsoka’s feelings toward the Makashi Master better than she probably expected.

However, when the spar started, Qui-Gon was somewhat relieved to find that the young Sith apprentice was not his equal in Ataru. Two things accounted for this, one, she was consciously limiting herself to one form and two, she wasn’t trying to kill him.

He did his best to show her more than tell her what was the correct or better way to execute her attacks as Dooku gave clipped critiques.

At one point when there was a breath between attacks and his back was to Dooku, he rolled his eyes at his Master’s tone.

Ahsoka grinned at him.

Which changed the mood of the spar. It went from precision to letting the Force itself direct them.

She was a breath of wind in a tropical storm, free and powerful, yet warm and playful. Atura was about using the Force to enhance every motion. It was not a style designed for prolonged fights, but was excellent against multiple opponents.

But if you could fully embrace the Living Force, sometimes the Force would just give and guide, allowing you to continue much longer than an Atura wielder relying on the Cosmic Force.

Grandmaster Yoda being the exception there, but then, Yoda had the raw strength to out last almost anyone.

Ahsoka, however, was a fellow Living Force wielder and between them, their spar lasted nearly two hours.

Qui-Gon was well and truly exhausted, but the exasperated look on Dooku’s face as he realized he had yet another Padawan committed to ‘useless acrobatics’ and ‘short sighted take on the Force’ was completely worth it.

Ahsoka bowed deeply to him and Qui-Gon returned the motion. “A true pleasure, Padawan Ahsoka Tano.”

Her smile was real and reached her blue eyes, “Thank you, Master Jinn. It was an honour.”

Qui-Gon bowed to Dooku, who inclined his head but said nothing as Ahsoka turned her back on him without acknowledgement to get refreshments.

Dooku’s mouth was as thin as Qui-Gon had ever seen it. 

But having learned long ago that his Master didn’t care for comments on his inner council, Qui-Gon was able to turn his full attention to Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon felt his heart break for the boy as he stumbled through each Soresu movement, his expression savaged by sorrow and anger as he gave himself to the physical excersition.

Qui-Gon waved Ahsoka on, and Dooku departed after her without a word, leaving just him and Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon took a seat, crossing his legs to wait for Obi-Wan to give himself a break.

But it wasn’t until Obi-Wan fell for what must have been the thousandth time and couldn’t get back up that Qui-Gon realized that Obi-Wan would not give himself a break.

Strange that.

That isn’t what his Initiate teachers he had spoken with about his training had indicated what he would do.

“Enough, Obi-Wan, that’s enough for the day,” Qui-Gon said as he went to his Padawan’s side.

But Obi-Wan didn’t appear to hear him, as he tried to use the staff to pull himself off his knees.

“Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Obi-Wan flinched so hard away from that he landed on his butt. “Don’t touch me!” he bellowed.

Qui-Gon stayed very still, “Obi-Wan, do you know where you are?”

His Padawan stared at him as if he was looking at a ghost. He didn’t answer, he didn’t move. His face sweaty and falling into an expressionless mask.

“General Kenobi,” a voice broke through the tension.

Obi-Wan turned round to see Cody who strode confidently and unharried across the room. Qui-Gon hadn’t even noticed him.

When Cody offered Obi-Wan a hand up, he took it without hesitation. 

“Come on, Kenobi, let’s get you something to eat before you clean up and collapse.”

Obi-Wan sighed as he limped, holding onto Cody’s arm for support, looking unembarrassed. “Fine, you’re the boss.”

Cody’s smile was radiant, “I’m the parent.”

Obi-Wan huffed a laugh as Qui-Gon followed at his side. “You did well, today,” he offered.

Obi-Wan turned a smile to him, “Thank you, Master.”

Unlike Ahsoka, the smile did not reach his Padawan’s eyes.

* * *

AN: Drop a comment to your witcher? Please? I'm going insane and I need the escape.


	8. Twining

KEYnote: I deviate a bit from lore to add a layer of mystery :D Thank you Ahrnberg and Nauze!  


Chapter 8 - Twining  


Ahsoka woke the next morning fairly excited for the day.

Which was odd.

She hadn’t felt like that since…

Well, she hadn’t felt like that since it sunk in that the dawning of each sun circle would mean the death for her men, for her people in the galaxy, and for thousands of innocents for a meaningless war.

But now?

Now she wasn’t a commander in the GAR, she was just a Jedi Padawan.

Which is what she had wanted to be since she took Plo’s hand all those years ago.

So what if she had to deal with Dooku as a Master, he wasn’t actually as unpredictable as Anakin, and while she disagreed with the way that Qui-Gon had treated Obi-Wan, sparring with an actual Ataru Master had been incredible.

“Good Morning, Tano,” Cody said as he slid a cup of tea in front of Obi-Wan along with a plate with buttered toast.

Cody, Ahsoka was almost certain, was trying to fatten Obi-Wan up.

Of course, Obi-Wan was a growing thirteen-year-old human male, but Cody seemed ready for the challenge.

“Good morning, Cody, Obi-Wan.” She took a plate of toast and a jar of jam as she sat beside her disheveled grandmaster. Cody was taking the whole ‘guardian’ thing a bit seriously. But then, she thought they were all relieved to not be eating ration bars.

Her grandmaster looked tired as he was scrawled on a flimsy with less interest than she had seen him write a report the Council had actually witnessed first hand.

“Morning,” Obi-Wan said before taking a sip of his tea.

“Where’s Rex?” she asked.

Cody smiled, “Wandering the city, he just realized this morning that he doesn’t need permission to go off and explore.”

Ahsoka nodded, “You know, I half felt that way when I was planning on leaving the Order.”

Obi-Wan looked up then, “Ahsoka, if you want to go explo-”

“No,” Cody said, “Absolutely not, neither of you are going anywhere without an escort. You attract more trouble than a junker with an operational tractor beam.”

Obi-Wan scowled at him and opened his mouth.

Cody snapped at him, “The last time I left you alone, you were kidnapped by a half-pint Dark Sider. You could have died. Now that the Order inducted both Rex and I, you are still officially our foundlings despite your Padawan status-”

“I am a Jedi Master-”

“Who can hardly use the Force, much less keep from tripping over your own feet. Now eat your toast.”

Obi-Wan looked less than amused as Ahsoka covered her own smile by biting into the warm sweetened bread.

“So, do we have a plan?” Ahsoka asked.

Obi-Wan raised a brow at her, “We haven’t been back at the Temple for a week, Ahsoka, there is no plan. Just enjoy it.”

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you. What are you writing then, ‘Master of Just Enjoying It.’”

Obi-Wan muttered, “Anakin.” Before finishing the line he was working and passing the flimsy over to her. “I was working on my essay for Sifo-Dyas.”

“Oh,” she said, glancing over it. The paper was succinct yet thorough as his reports always were. “Aren’t you worried your writing will be above average?”

“I was a perfectionist when I was a Padawan. But I figured if I limited myself to twenty minutes, it would balance out how in-depth I could speak on a philosophical discussion.”

Ahsoka skimmed another paragraph, she disagreed, but then again, Obi-Wan didn’t really enjoy playing games with people. Pretending to be less intelligent than he was wasn’t something she would ever ask of him.

“Not that I want to ruin your new resolution,” Cody began, “But do you think Sifo-Dyas, Dooku, or Qui-Gon would speak to me about the mission on Serreno? I was able to find the report but it was pretty bare. Apparently, it occurred only a year or so before Qui-Gon was knighted.”

“I don’t see why not,” Obi-Wan said, “We know the Trade Federation was working with Dooku, therefore, we know they were working with the Sith. Did you report who else was there?” 

“Representatives from the Banking Clan. Hego Damask II, Magister of Damask Holding was mentioned quite often in the report. Apparently, he was worried about the Republic’s security.”

Obi-Wan blinked, “That… that’s odd. Was that all that was written?”

“Yes, it was very vague. But Master Sifo-Dyas noted in the report that Damask offered financial support to invest in the Republic’s security.”

“That name sounds really familiar,” Ahsoka said, “I feel like Anakin mentioned him at some point.”

“Anakin didn’t know him,” Obi-Wan said, “I only remember because I was with Queen Amidala at the time. Damask was a close friend and mentor of Chancellor Palpatine. He died the night before his election.”

“How?”

Obi-Wan shook his head, “I don’t remember, I just remember the headline, ‘Palpatine Rises to Chancellor on the Heels of Great Personal Sorrow’, it was overshadowed by everything else, really, but Padme remarked on it to Sabe to have someone remind her to send her condolences .”

Which is probably how Ahsoka knew the name, Anakin had always been close with Palpatine. “What did Damask mean about Republic security? And I know he’s a banker, but how wealthy is he?”

Cody pulled out a datapad, and let out a low whistle. “I don’t even know how to translate those figures, and that’s only what’s public information,” he said as he flipped the pad around to him.

Ahsoka munched on her toast, “Do you think the Trade Federation could have made a deal with the Muuns? To make the droids, I mean?”

Obi-Wan nodded, “The Muuns supported both sides of the conflict.”

“Which means the banks are a dead end with trying to suss out who is directly tied to the Sith,” she concluded.

Obi-Wan sipped his tea, not answering as he mulled everything over, “Not necessarily. I remember Qui-Gon despising the banking clans. And though I think the Sith were honestly after Padme during the Naboo Crisis, I think Qui-Gon was also a target.”

“You think Qui-Gon made enemies?” Ahsoka asked.

Obi-Wan laughed, “Many, I’m afraid. Qui-Gon had a peculiar talent of finding trouble that had previously gone unnoticed. He drove the Council mad, and while it was a surprise to discover the Sith, no one really questioned that out of all the Order, it would be Qui-Gon who discovered it.”

“Says the man who stumbled over a clone army,” Cody said fondly.

Obi-Wan grinned, “He was my Master-  _ is. _ ” He sighed, face sobering. “I think investigating the Banks is as important as the Trade Federation, perhaps more so. Until the war, the Banks had a hand in just about everything.”

“Including picking the next Chancellor,” Ahsoka said gently, knowing that Obi-Wan distrusted Palpatine deeply, though he was very good at not saying anything either way.

Obi-Wan nodded, “Yes, it might not be a bad idea to investigate Palpatine either.”

“I’ve already done a search. His record is spotless. Tragic, but spotless. Apparently his whole family was murdered on a cruise. Of course, Rex thinks it's suspicious his record is that clean.” Cody said, “But then, Rex hates the Chancellor.”

Ahsoka’s brows shut up, “Really? Why? Anakin was super close friends with him.”

“Rex has become a bit paranoid about the chain of command after Umbara. He told me that every time General Skywalker went to visit Palpatine he seemed more sure of himself and less sure of everyone else.”

Obi-Wan stared at Cody, “That’s it! That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to Anakin for years. But he never believed me, he said no one else ever had anything bad to say about Palpatine, not even Mace.”

Ahsoka bit her lip, “I saw it too, but I- It was subtle and with the war…”

“Alright, you two,” Cody said, “I can take it from here, finish up, then get to class.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, finished another slice of toast and cup of milk, as Obi-Wan did the same, even taking another slice with him before they left.

“Cody is never going to not be like that now, is he?” Ahsoka asked Obi-Wan.

He sighed, “Probably not. Remember, he used to be Marshall Commander of the entire 7th Sky Corps, now all he has is us and Rex to worry over. And maybe the entirety of the Creche once the other Masters, aside from Ali-Alann, can be around him without reaching for a weapon.”

“He’s going to be as devoted to the archives as you are,” she said with false dismay, “I mean he found the relevant information pretty fast.”

“He was looking into Dooku and Qui-Gon’s background that he found something relevant to the war is just luck.”

“Luck?” she questioned, “Or long term planning? How early do you think the Sith noticed and began grooming Dooku?”

Obi-Wan said nothing for a long time, but finally, he said, “I don’t know, Ahsoka. All I know is that Qui-Gon never spoke openly of his Master, and despite our living in the same Temple for decades, I didn’t meet my grandmaster until I was captured on Geonosis.”

“When he was already a Sith.”

He was quiet again, and they were almost to the classroom when he said in a low voice so no one but she could hear, “He has always been dangerous, Ahsoka, never forget that.”

* * *

Quinlan Vos was at all sure what to make of Obi-Wan Kenobi, much less the Sith Apprentice, Kenobi’s new best friend, much less, much less the two Mandalorian warriors who had been brought into the Order.

But to begin with, Quin wasn’t even sure Obi-Wan was the same person. His two old best friends, Bant and Galen, he appeared to want nothing to do with. Even weirder, Obi-Wan didn’t seem bothered by how much he was upsetting them.

Another thing, Obi-Wan was a known perfectionist, and today,  _ again, _ he looked as if he was tuning out the days’ lecture.

Even though Master Mace Windu was giving a lecture about battle strategy.

The Obi-Wan Vos knew would have been all over that.

But unlike Master Sifo-Dyas who had come around before the start of class to collect Obi-Wan’s punitive essay, Master Windu wasn’t as indirect.

“Padawan Kenobi,” the Council Member said sharply.

Obi-Wan didn’t jump, his gaze simply focused on the man, “Yes, Master Windu?”

“Suppose you are trapped in a prison, tied to an enemy and in order to escape, you must escape with your enemy what do you do?”

Quin watched in amazement as far from being intimidated by Mace  _ Kriffing _ Windu, his lips twitched.

Then Padawan Ahsoka Tano burst out laughing, which caused Obi-Wan to join her, their laughter filling the room as the professor had just offered the finest delivered comedy.

Windu scowled and Ahsoka sobered, Obi-Wan was still smiling as he answered, “Team up and let them walk ahead of you if you can because you should expect them to stab you in the back at the first opportunity."

“You aren’t even going to hesitate to work with them, Padawan Kenobi?” Master Windu asked.

Obi-Wan shrugged, “Assuming we both want to live, it isn’t as if you should team up with your enemy without consideration.”

“What if freeing your enemy means the death of thousands?”

“What if giving your enemy to your enemy’s enemy backfires and leads to thousands more dying?”

The Master raised his brows, “Is that what led you Kenobi, to team up with a Sith and two Mandalorians.”

The class went deathly quiet, but Obi-Wan didn’t lose his humour, “Ahsoka, Cody, and Rex have never been my enemies. As for them being the possible enemies of the Order, well, I wasn’t a part of the Order on Melida/Daan and you are the ones who welcomed them into the Temple.”

Windu looked at him for a long moment before nodding, then continuing his lecture. Obi-Wan went back to staring out the window.

Quin was entirely too confused to understand what had just happened. Quin looked at Bant and Galen who were gaping at Obi-Wan’s back.

Siri Tachi looked as if she had just swallowed a bug.

Depa and Kit, however, looked amused.

What by all the known stars in the galaxy was going on?

* * *

Cody wasn’t sure how he had managed it, but having been Kenobi’s Commander for so many years now, he had learned how to hide his Force signature.

Or, at least, that’s what he thought he was doing. He just imagined himself folding away as he walked through the Temple halls.

He wasn’t a Force Sensitive, but as Obi-Wan had told him, repeatedly, they were all beings within the Force.

So apparently, imagining he could fold himself away in the world around him, worked on some level.

He had been able to sneak up on several Jedi thus far, and at the moment, it allowed him the rare opportunity to listen in on two Jedi talking in their main room.

“Are you sure he didn’t copy it from the archi-”

“Dooku,” Sifo-Dyas said, clearly exasperated, “I had to go back and research the things he referenced. Some of the Masters he quotes are ancient and others… It’s new. I haven’t heard anyone talk about the Cosmic Force like this, not with this wording.”

“You think he’s a prodigy?”

“No,” Sifo-Dyas said, “But he isn’t a Temple sheltered Padawan either.”

“Three months-”

“Just read it.”

A minute or so passed, and finally Count Dooku said, “Well written.”

“Do you see?”

“I do, but I don’t think it’s a problem. Young people can surprise us.”

Cody decided to interrupt then, rather than letting the would be Sith and fortune teller dig too deep.

When he knocked, he could almost picture their surprised expression.

After a drawn out pause, the door swooshed open. Master Sifo-Dyas’s dark brows shot up, his almond brown eyes going large.

Clearly, Cody was not expected.

“Mando,” he began.

“Cody,” he corrected.

Sifo-Dyas dipped his head, “Of course, Cody, what can I do for you?”

“I had a few questions regarding an old assignment yourself, Dooku, Qui-Gon, and Master Nu were on.”

Sifo-Dyas’s brows climbed higher, “You don’t mean that mission on Serreno, do you?”

Cody nodded, “The same.”

Sifo-Dyas turned to Dooku who waved them both over, “We shall tell you anything you want to know, Cody, if you assuage our curiosity and let us know why it is you are asking?”

“I believe the Trade Federation is involved with the Sith. I do not know if they are doing so knowling or unwittingly. I believe it may be possible the Banks are involved as well.”

Dooku and Sifo-Dyas stared at him.

The Count smirked and shook his head, “You speak of them so casually.”

“I have seen many things you haven’t,” Cody said, thinking of all the brothers he had lost because of this- there was no word strong enough for this monster, while he tried building an empire on his brother’s corpses.

That he was still a Jedi now just made it worse.

This man who had once known goodness and family had been willing to set the galaxy ablaze.

“I can see your emotions in your eyes, warrior, yet I cannot feel you in the Force. Well, I can, but you are muted, unlike your twin who burns brightly.”

“We are not twins,” Cody informed him, “he is younger than I am.”

Dooku tilted his head to the side, “The family resemblance is strong.”

“I am not a blonde,” Cody said blandly, even though such a discrepancy in Rex’s appearance, very well could have had him slated before he was even out of incubation.

Cody would never brag about being ‘perfect’. He was a Marshal Commander. He had to undergo more tests, more scannings, and teeth checkings than Rex ever had.

No, being ‘up to code’ was  _ what _ Cody was, not who he was, Rex got to skate by with his visible variation. That he had been able to rise so high in rank with his born uniqueness was a mark of honour.

The Count caught his tone and moved on, “What is it you want to know?”

“Does Serreno have a history with the Sith?” he asked, having found a vague reference to it but the source he had found had not elaborated.

Dooku nodded, a sardonic smile playing on his lips, "It was once a part of a Sith Empire, yes, and it was my family who won their freedom back without Jedi aid. Force sensitives are not welcomed there."

_ Oh the irony _ , Cody thought as he said, "Yet you had a meeting there with four Jedi present?"

"My birth was an embarrassment to my father. When he discovered I was Force sensitive he threw me out into the night and contacted the Temple. So when I can, I enjoy getting back at him. That and Serreno is well connected in the outer Rim."

Cody was appalled, "How old were you?"

"A few months."

Cody frowned, "Your father threw a baby -wait, do you mean he literally left an infant outside? In the elements?"

"Had the Jedi been even an hour or so later," Sifo-Dyas said, heat in his eyes, "Dooku likely wouldn't have survived.”

“Who thought it was a good idea to tell you this?” Cody asked, not sure if he would tell Asajj that her mother sold her into slavery.

“My Master was Yoda, he felt it was important for me to understand my roots.”

Cody took in a deep breath, then let it go.

Grand Kriffing Master Yoda, and before he could stop himself, he said, "Maybe he should retire."

He was shocked at himself that he had said such a thing about one of his High Generals.

But both Sifo-Dyas and Dooku laughed; Dooku's laugh was like the distant rumble of thunder.

"Oh, you are going to fit right in," Sifo-Dyas said as he stood. "Would you like any tea, my friend?"

Cody was caught off guard by this, the Jedi were mostly nice to their troopers, but this felt different.

There were no ranks here, not really.

Even Master Jedi meant more between Jedi than it was meant to between him and them.

"Yes, thank you and I don't need any sweeteners."

Sifo-Dyas gave him a small smile before going to the kitchenette to start the water.

"On account of the Sith," Dooku said, the humour still reflecting in his dark eyes, "what was it that prompted you to believe they are working with the Trade Federation?"

_ They started a galactic civil war, _ he thought but he did ponder the question.

The more he had time to research and think on it, even in the last few days, the more something seemed wrong. Even Obi-Wan was getting agitated.

There was something obvious they were missing.

What did the Trade Federation have to do with anything?

"Wealth," Cody offered, "they are self serving and don't care who gets hurt along the way so long as they make a profit."

Dooku nodded, "That is certainly true, and the more the Republic Senate tries to constrict them the further they reach outside the Republic limits."

"I don't know as much about the banks," he admitted, his attention splitting between Sifo-Dyas preparing tea and Dooku straightening the cuffs on his robes.

"I do, but before we get to that, what is the goal of the Sith?"

"To end the Jedi Order and topple the Republic," he said with certainty

"So the Sith must make it profitable for the trading company to break the Republic.”

Cody felt his eyes widen as he saw the pieces falling together, “No, to break away from it. It is my understanding that there are some planets, those furthest from the Core can be neglected by the Republic.”

Sifo-Dyas came back to the seating area with a tray. He passed Cody a porcelain cup first.

Cody took it graciously and said, “Thank you.”

Obi-Wan had been the first person to make him a cup of tea, but Obi-Wan was… family, this was the first cup of tea he had received from someone who was in no way bound to him.

Strangers saw clones as something other, second class sentients at best, little better than droids at worst, but these two people saw him as a man not a number.

Sifo-Dyas smiled easily, “You are most welcome. And yes, the Republic has grown more Core-centric. As Dooku mentioned, the Trade Federation works outside of the Republic, but they still push through in the Senate as well. It wouldn’t be truly profitable for them unless more systems left the Republic.”

“Which brings us to the Muuns,” Dooku said, “Magister Damask had quite a few opinions about the Republic.”

“And Padawan Jinn, at the time,” Sifo-Dyas said, “had quite a few opinions on the Banks dealings in the galaxy.”

The door swish opened, and the legend himself walked in, “I still have quite a few opinions on the Banking Clans.”

Cody frowned at the man, “Isn’t your lesson with Obi-Wan about to start?”

Qui-Gon took a seat beside Sifo-Dyas and reached for the fourth cup of tea. Sifo-Dyas must have been expecting him then. “I sent Padawans Kenobi and Tano on a run for the evening. After which they will be swimming for as long as they are able. Now, why are we discussing the Muuns?”

“Our friend thinks the Trade Federation and possibly the Banking Clans are involved with the Sith. He has come to ask about our meeting with both parties on Serreno,” Dooku summarized.

Qui-Gon took a drink from his tea before he said, “The Banking Clans invest in conflict then reap the rewards of destruction and discourse in the Outer Rim. The Republic does nothing because those worlds are not a part of the Republic. Yet the Hutts continue to lengthen their reach. Crime pays more than hard work. It is a vicious cycle. Evil grows this way, it does not surprise me that the Sith would find allies among them.”

Cody drank his own tea, citrus and floral. He spoke slowly, “The Trade Federation follows the same pattern. They benefit from turmoil, from war. Would it be going too far to suggest that weapons might be accumulating in the Outer Rims to accelerate the violence.”

“Funny you should mention it,” Sifo-Dyas said, “Because that is what Magister Damask warned. That the Outer Rim might pose a threat to the Republic. He said he had the funds to supply the Republic with an army.”

Cody felt his blood go cold.

He had thought the Muuns might have funded the Trade Federation and the Sith with the loans to build droid armies.

He hadn’t thought the Muuns were behind the creation of himself and his brothers.

Sure, he understood that the Republic bought them using credits that went through Muun hands, but he had never imagined it was the Bankers who actually started the ball rolling.

Somehow, the cold logistics of a banker imagining this instead of scientists was worse...

“Supply?” Qui-Gon asked, “Mercenaries would not make up a stable army.”

Cody didn’t want to have a conversation about cloning, not in a reality where it didn’t even cross anyone’s minds that his similarities to Rex were anything more than happenstance of brotherhood. So he asked instead, “Say the Muuns were able to supply the Republic with an army, say the Outer Rim fraction also scrapped together an army and tried seceding from the Republic, what would the Sith pose to gain?”

They were all quiet as everyone thought it over.

Dooku said, “The Republic’s first line of defence are the Jedi. If there was a large enough army then they might be entrusted to our command.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Qui-Gon said, “The Jedi aren’t generals, we are peacekeepers, not warlords.”

“We used to be,” Sifo-Dyas said, “but that was a long time ago.”

“Back when the Sith were still a power to be reckoned with,” Dooku said.

“No,” Qui-Gon said, “If this were to happen then the Republic should let the Outer Rim secede.”

“And let crime go unchecked for billions?” Sifo-Dyas asked.

Qui-Gon set down his teacup with a clink, “Crime? As if that is what the Jedi do now, as if that is what the Republic does. Slavery-”

“Is illegal,” Sifo-Dyas sighed, as if he had this argument with Qui-Gon before.

“Not in spirit, nor in truth,” Qui-Gon said, voice deepening with his anger, “Slavery is still an acceptable punishment to crime in the Republic and the children born of those slaves are also property, sentients-”

“There are not enough Jedi to be able to enforce-” Dooku began.

But Qui-Gon was quicker, “-anything. There aren’t enough of us to enforce anything. We mediate between politicians, aid in some crises but the Corps are more useful than the Knights are.”

Cody felt his brows go up. He had dealt with the Corps before, they were good people, and Cody had harboured a secret hope that if he survived the war he could join one of them.

Dooku sighed, “Qui-Gon, on almost every mission you’ve ever been on you throw yourself into conflict. Yet you think the Corps-”

“I think I wouldn’t find so much trouble if the Republic wasn’t corrupted from the core outward. I agree with Magister Damask on that count, it is ridiculous that there is no larger Force outside of the Jedi to maintain law. The courts only hear who has the resources to matter to the Core and, beyond that, the law sides with those who are able to pay. The galaxy is too big for the Jedi to be involved in every case.”

“So what would you have us do instead?” Dooku asked, sounding as if he didn’t disagree but that he was annoyed to be lectured in the theoretical.

Qui-Gon gestured to Cody, “We find people like him and Rex.”

Cody froze, his mind spinning with how Qui-Gon could have discovered his history.

But then Sifo-Dyas snorted, “Mandalorians? You want to put the Republic’s security in the hands of Mandalorians?”

_ Oh, right,  _ Cody sipped his tea, trying to cover his moment of panic.

“Why not?” Qui-Gon challenged, “Mandalorian culture isn’t so different from ours. They abhor slavery and flagrant corruption as much as we do. Aside from Beskar, they aren’t even driven really by economy, unlike the Muuns or the Trading Federation. Why should we wait for them to fill the gaping hole in the Republic’s stability? Why don’t we, the Jedi, make a defence corps? We don’t need Force sensitives to train and supervise peacekeepers.”

Cody stared at this man, wondering if he would have changed or influenced the war if he had lived to see it.

Dooku let out a heavy side, “Because Mandalorians aren’t peacekeepers. They are prone to civil war and violence and-”

“We aren’t?” Qui-Gon asked, “The Sith are Jedi, Master, their culture is ours, their teachings an echo of our own. Even the Jedi of today aren’t separate from the Sith. The Sith invented lightsabers, the Sith pushed us to advance. Our history is not clean nor pretty. We do the best we can now, but we could do better and we could fall.”

Dooku stared at him, “You believe Ahsoka’s previous Master would have succeeded in turning me to the Dark Side, aren’t you?”

“No,” Qui-Gon said, “I think you are capable of doing it by yourself. I’ve heard your arguments with Yoda, Master. You think the Jedi should use the power to usurp the Senate.”

“Is that not what you have just suggested?” Dooku challenged.

“No,” Qui-Gon said, “I think we should expand our teachings to people outside the Order, or include more non-Force sensitives into our ranks, our corps, our people. The Republic may not need an army at this moment, but we do need a multi-species civilian force to keep balance and justice within our systems, or what is the point of the Galactic Republic?”

Dooku was silent for a long moment, and then Sifo-Dyas asked, “What do you think, Cody?”

Cody leaned back in his seat, and said, “So long as you don’t demand a mandatory draft and all are willing and  _ paid _ , then I agree with Qui-Gon. Much of the crime in the Republic could be avoided if the Republic Law was enforced beyond the courts.”

_ Because the lack of such a thing spawned a war. _

Qui-Gon smirked at Dooku.

Dooku sipped his tea, before he said, “The Council will never agree to it.”

“Kriff the Council,” Qui-Gon said.

Cody finally saw the heritage between General Anakin Skywalker and his grandmaster.

Sifo-Dyas gave Qui-Gon a look, “You do understand that I am on the Council, do you not, Jinn?”

Qui-Gon picked back up his cup of tea, “They don’t listen to you either.”

Sifo-Dyas didn’t argue this and Dooku laughed again.

Cody understood then how these Jedi had deviated so wildly within their Order. They saw and were aware of the dangers the Republic were in, and unlike the others in the Temple; they believed they could make a difference with radical action.

* * *

Tahl’s world was darkness.

When once her day had been filled with light and thousand little wonders, she now stumbled through an ever present blackness.

The Force was with her still, breathing and living, filling the darkness with music and soul, but it wasn’t the same. 

Nothing was the same anymore.

She wasn’t the same.

The person she had died when she opened her sightless eyes and realized she would never be able to see the world again.

This week had been torture.

Because she had seen light in the dark.

Ahsoka Tano.

A gift from the Force.

Yet a reminder of what she had lost.

And Tahl hated herself for her pain, for her selfishness.

She should be grateful to be alive, she should be-

Not attached to the person she had been.

She had thrown herself into isolation, hoping to face her demons.

Tahl hadn’t appreciated how strong her inner demons were, how deep her weaknesses ran.

The harder she fought herself, the deeper she fell.

She should be grateful to be alive.

She  _ was _ grateful to be alive. She just never saw herself as someone who would live everyday with regrets. It wasn’t who or what she was.

It wasn’t how she saw the world.

She lived in the moment, yesterday and tomorrow wasn’t supposed to matter.

But now, she was engulfed with darkness.

She was drowning in it.

It had taken her a night of tossing and turning to accept that she needed help.

By Jedi teachings, she should have gone to her Master.

But her Master was long since dead and there was none who she would seek wisdom from.

So she went where her weakness led her, trying to make peace with her own belief that coming here wasn’t wrong.

That to love and be loved in return was not wrong.

“Tahl?” Qui-Gon asked as he entered the room,  _ his _ room.

“Turn off the lights,” she said, her own voice sounding harsh to her own so she added, “please.”

She heard him key down the lights, but his stride didn’t alter as he crossed the room, either because this was such a familiar space to him, or because he could still see.

He knelt in front of her, laying his big hands on her knees. “Tahl,” he said again, softer this time.

“What do you see?” she asked.

“Your silhouette, the passing lights of the traffic pressing against the blinds. I can just make out the furniture, my bed, the dresser. The glint of the windchimes you gifted me. But there isn’t any colour in the room. It’s too dark for that.”

“But you can still see.”

“Yes,” he said without inflection, without judgement, without sparing her.

Her hands were shaking as she followed the folds of his robes to his face. His beard was soft, his long hair softer. She whispered her weakness, her regret as if she said it quietly enough it could be a meaningless fact that didn’t hurt her where no Jedi Master should hurt, “I will never see the colour of your eyes again.”

“Tahl-” he started.

But she stole his words with a kiss. 

Qui-Gon matched her passion, and she tried to tell herself that in the dark, she wouldn’t have been able to see where her hands revealed skin. That even if she still had her vision, it wouldn’t have added to the moments between them.

That not having her sight now didn’t lessen her.

Qui-Gon pulled back from her and she almost screamed, clinging to him as if she let go she would drift off into the deep, lost forever.

“Tahl, Tahl, I’m here. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay,” he said, running his hands over her head, laying kisses on her closed eyelids.

Force help her, she hadn’t even realized she had closed them.

She let out a sob, and wondered why she was being so weak.

Was this her punishment for allowing herself to fall in love?

Even that thought didn't stop her from allowing Qui-Gon to stretch them out on his bed and pulled a blanket over them. She curled herself into his warmth as he wrapped his arms protectively around her.

She was a broken thing, undeserving of him, undeserving of the Force; undeserving of the life she had been gifted.

Qui-Gon held her tight, and she felt his words rumble through his chest, through her, through the Force as he spoke his truth, “I love you, Tahl.”

She cried harder.

So what if this was wrong, so what if this love was what broke her in the end.

She hadn’t allowed herself to seek comfort from this man since waking from her injury months ago. Yet for the first time since losing her sight, she felt safe.

Truly safe within her own skin.

She felt the Force flowing through them, radiating with their emotions.

She didn’t need words to tell Qui-Gon she loved him.

Because even in the dark, even with their eyes squeezed shut, their love shone in the Force. Lights twining in the deepest seas.

She was blind.

But she was not sightless.

She was a Jedi Master.

But she was not loveless.

When she woke in the morning, her lover wrapped around her like sunlight on a summer day; she had no regrets.

* * *

AN: Thoughts, reactions, puppies, or feedback? Pretty please?


	9. Fault

AN: Thank you Nauze and Ahrnberg!!!

Chapter 9 - Faults

There were already changes to the galaxy that Obi-Wan was aware of. For one, Bant had yet to be chosen as a Padawan despite being elevated to Padawan classes, as she was only eleven, though this was not entirely unexpected or novel. He was also pretty certain that the five of them, Dooku, Qui-Gon, Tahl, Bant, and he were supposed to be on missions that had been taken up by others in the Order. Dodging his friends became second nature, which a part of him felt guilty about, but he didn’t think it was worse than lying to them constantly. Three months had been twenty-five years and that lie burned deeper and deeper into him with every day that passed under Qui-Gon’s tutelage.

He always thought that he would have given nearly anything to see his Master again.

He had been wrong.

Obi-Wan never thought he would miss war, but he found that he was lost in this peace time. He felt as if his paranoia was growing, that the walls of the Temple itself were closing in around him.

After a week of suffering through classes, Ahsoka seemed to flourish as Obi-Wan became more and more frustrated, Cody finally took pity on him and none of the Masters said anything when he didn’t show up to any more lectures. They were, after all, optional, for all that they were expected.

From then on, he spent his mornings training with Cody and Rex in both weapons and hand to hand combat.

Obi-Wan didn’t think he had ever appreciated how elite Cody and Rex were until he found himself thrown on his rear a thousand times over each week.

But it was his training with Cody and Rex that likely saved Obi-Wan’s sanity. They were no longer at war, but unlike Qui-Gon, Cody was preparing him for battle.

Being off active duty was more challenging than relearning his form, yet training with the intensity that he could be thrown back into the Clone Wars at any moment kept the nightmares at bay, made the waiting tolerable.

Even if he was panicking Qui-Gon and the Council with how ‘intense and serious’ he had become from the typical hot-headed Padawan he had once been.

By the end of the third month, Obi-Wan was not yet the Master he had been, but he was Ahsoka’s equal, and either of them could have taken any of the other current Padawans, much to Quin’s and Depa’s annoyance. Whether Obi-Wan could have taken on either Qui-Gon or Dooku, however, was not clear. For all his intensive training, he was still a growing thirteen year old boy, with all the awkwardness that included, and Soresu was not a style meant for ‘beating’ one’s opponent, it was a style meant to outlast them. So if it came down to it, Obi-Wan likely could have gotten the upper hand on Qui-Gon under the right conditions, but Dooku would have most likely killed him in his occasional missteps. He was not sure if Qui-Gon understood this, but Obi-Wan was at least confident now that he would regain everything he had lost, in time, and then some. After all, there was nothing like having an adult’s determination in a teenager’s body nor having the opportunity to be trained by Mandalorian super soldiers.

Master Che finally cleared him for active duty. And not a moment too soon.

Cody, Rex, Ahsoka, and he were playing their weekly game of Sabacc, the winner got to pick the restaurant for the next night and the biggest loser had to scrub down the apartment as neither Rex nor Cody liked having strangers in the rooms. When the knock sounded, Obi-Wan had just laid down the winning hand.

“How!?” Ahsoka exclaimed, “You win every time!”

Obi-Wan got up, smiling, “Not true, Cody has won a few times.”

“I think they are cheating,” Rex told Ahsoka as Obi-Wan opened the door to the Masters waiting outside.

Qui-Gon was smiling at him even as Sifo-Dyas scowled, “Sabacc? At your age, Padawan?”

Obi-Wan grinned, “Qui-Gon is the one who taught me how to play.”

Which was and wasn’t true. Qui-Gon in his timeline had taught how to both play and cheat, both with and without Force tricks, but at this point, Qui-Gon had only explained the basics.

Tahl laughed and Dooku smirked, “And I taught Qui-Gon. May we come in, Padawan Kenobi?”

Obi-Wan nodded taking a step back so the four Masters could enter.

Dooku had begun addressing him formally as ‘Padawan Kenobi’ as he had reverted to calling Ahsoka ‘Padawan Tano’ in a bid to win her respect.

Force help the poor man, he was trying. Dooku was walking a tightrope in his attempt to build a rapport with Ahsoka by being compassionate and respectful.

Ahsoka was having none of it, and she typically responded best to Dooku when he was being mean during practices, but as he was trying to get her to balance her fiery nature, provoking her into a lethal fury was not productive.

Obi-Wan almost pitied him, until he remembered all the people Dooku had killed both purposely and inadvertently.

The nightmares of Zygerria were still etched into his skin and he knew that Ahsoka was even less likely to forget what Dooku had done to her people than he was.

So no, Obi-Wan had no intention of intervening on Dooku’s behalf, because watching Count Dooku attempt to win favour with a wartorn veteran, who just happened to be a teenage female, was one of life’s true pleasures.

As for Ahsoka’s temper? Well, apparently Obi-Wan was crap at teaching emotional stability, and Ahsoka was close enough to him that she was benefiting from having both Qui-Gon and Tahl around.

Besides, Ahsoka was the happiest now that Obi-Wan had ever seen her, and whatever traumas she had from the war, she always had Obi-Wan, Cody, and Rex at her back.

And Dooku to take her frustrations out on.

Cody was collecting the cards as everyone sat on the mats surrounding the large low table. Obi-Wan didn’t think anyone failed to notice the way Tahl’s hand brushed Qui-Gon’s shoulder and arm as she sat beside him.

Obi-Wan would say the only two people less subtle than them were Anakin and Padme.

But no one said anything, because for all their rules, Obi-Wan had sat on the Council, and the rule of no romantic attachment was an ideal, not something anyone would be punished for. As long as it didn’t interfere with your assignments and no one was getting hurt than what was someone’s private life was their business.

Obi-Wan didn’t necessarily agree with the guilt-tripping the Council liked to press the Order with, but he understood why the extremes had to be put in place.

“We were assigned a mission,” Dooku said.

Obi-Wan let out a sigh of relief and Ahsoka perked up, “All of us?”

Sifo-Dyas nodded, “Originally, we were going to send a large group, but we thought if Cody and Rex would be willing to go with us, then we might be able to have a more peaceful interaction.”

“We are descendants of true Mandalorians, but Rex nor I have any true ties to the system itself,” Cody said.

“But you can speak the language,” Dooku said.

“The three of us can actually speak in three different dialects,” Obi-Wan said, “Ahsoka is still learning, but we all know their sign language.”

And the coded version that had actually been perfected by the 212th battalion thanks to him and Cody being, as Anakin would phrase it, ‘unabashed nerds who don’t understand the concept of free time’.

Sifo-Dyas shook his head, “That, I feel, will be invaluable.”

“If they are going,” Rex said, “we are going.” As if to think otherwise was the height of stupidity.

“It’s too bad most of the Mandalorians wear masks,” Ahsoka mused.

“Why is that, Padawan?” Dooku asked politely.

She smirked, “Because I can’t wait to see their expressions when they see the Jedi insignia on a Mandalorian armour.”

Rex smiled, “If we are lucky, they will be too stunned to be hostile.”

“It’s Mandalore,” Obi-Wan said as he stood, going to their kitchenette to prepare tea as this seemed like it was going to be a lengthy debriefing, Sifo-Dyas speaking for the Council. “Everyone is hostile, even the pacifists.”

Ahsoka gave him a sad smile.

He winked at her. Satine was alive in this world, his failures could rest in the reality that would never be.

“What can you tell us about Mandalore?” Tahl asked, her green-gold eyes wandering the room. She had begun practising pretending to have sight. As a Force user, she certainly had the potential to fool many.

“About the current politics?” Rex said, “Likely not much, as we have said, it isn’t really our planetary system, however, I would say we know more about their culture than the Jedi. In fact, I find it surprising the Senate would even think to send Jedi to Mandalore.”

“It was Mandalore who petitioned for our aide.”

Obi-Wan signed to Rex that this had to be Galidraan.

Which between the four of them, all they really knew was it was the Jedi’s fault for being duped and it had ended badly for both sides.

Cody’s posture went rigid.

This was their first test.

The defining task that would inform them how much they could truly change in the galaxy.

Obi-Wan brought the tray of tea back to the table, the tea steeping in the pot.

“What was that?” Qui-Gon asked.

“He said he thinks the Council is going or has done something stupid. No Mandalorian of this age would ask for help from a Mandalorian,” Cody said, looking at Sifo-Dyas as if waiting for him to confirm it.

Not even Satine had asked for his help, not until it was far too late.

Obi-Wan began pouring the tea.

“The Governor of Galidraan has asked us to aid in apprehending a force that has been slaughtering civilians.”

“Death Watch,” Ahsoka said.

Rex made a sound, “Why are they even still around? They bring nothing but destruction for destruction’s sake.”

Cody cursed, the words translating loosely to ‘honourless scum’.

Sifo-Dyas shook his head, “No, they call themselves the True Mandalorians.”

Obi-Wan dropped the teapot and only Qui-Gon’s catching it with his telekinesis saved the clay from shattering on the table.

Obi-Wan felt his eyes go wide as he stared at Sifo-Dyas as all the pieces fell together.

Rex let out a vicious stream of curses that the Masters were lucky to not be able to understand.

The Jedi hadn’t just screwed up, they had damned Mandalore to progressively worsening civil wars, the first nearly taking out the main planet's entire population. That was the reason Satine had been in danger when he first met her, why she became a pacifist.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, sitting down and covering his face with both his hands as the images of a planet aflame filled his mind’s eye, the scene of chaos that had unravelled after Satine’s death, all her work undone in mere hours.

A heavy sorrow engulfed him as he thought through all the implications, at the threads which had been woven that lead to that.

Jango Fett had survived that attack, and according to Cody, he had been sold into slavery as punishment after Dooku had arrested him.

His hatred for the Jedi had been so deep…

Yet he had, for all intents and purposes, sired an army to serve the Republic and Jedi.

But that didn’t make any sense.

Was this the Sith’s doing?

Or the product of the Jedi’s own self-conceited ways?

No, this was the Jedi’s fault, but the Sith had taken advantage.

Somehow…

Obi-Wan pulled his hands back from his face, and he sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled, letting his emotions dissolve into the Force.

He needed to think, he needed to see what he had missed, had been missing.

He opened his eyes, blinking back tears that had not fallen, and met Dooku’s concerned gaze.

Obi-Wan took another deep breath, letting go of his disgust and near hatred for the Count.

Master Dooku had led the mission and Battle of Galidraan.

Jango Fett hated Count Dooku on a personal level, and hated the Jedi on principle with more reason than the average Mandalorian had.

Yet Jango had worked with the Kaminoans to make the Republic an army for the Jedi. In  _ addition _ to working with Count Dooku on Geonosis.

Something that in retrospect made little sense.

Unless…

Unless Jango had put aside his vendetta against Dooku to get back at the Jedi as a whole. Hadn’t Dooku listed Galidraan as one of the reasons he had left the Order?

Had Dooku known of the clone army all along?

Obi-Wan tuned out the voices around him as his gaze slid to Sifo-Dyas, Dooku’s best friend.

A friend Dooku had killed shortly after Qui-Gon had died on Naboo.

Qui-Gon had been the final push in Dooku becoming a Sith, but Dooku had always been walking the edge.

He had been easy prey for the Sith, and Sifo-Dyas…

_ Driven mad, he was. Foresaw great darkness he did, made this army without Council’s permission he must have. _

But if Dooku had known about the clone’s creation at the start then…

Obi-Wan fought to keep his breath steady.

A game.

It had all been a game.

And the Jedi had played right into it. Never challenging the Senate, waging a war that went against everything the Order fundamentally stood for.

Obi-Wan’s hand began to tingle as he lost control of his breathing.

_ What if I told you that the Republic was now under the control of a dark lord of the Sith? _

He looked back into Dooku’s brown eyes.

Dooku had never lied to him.

Obi-Wan felt his heart break as he went over everything that had followed, the death, the suffering, and yes, they could blame the Sith for orchestrating this game.

But in the end, it would be the Jedi who destroyed the Republic, by allowing the rot to set in. It was the Jedi who would throw away their people, threw their Padawans like Ahsoka and Anakin into hell, and had allowed the use of an army of men grown only to be enslaved in a manufactured war.

The Sith had been laughing at them from the sidelines.

_ You must join me, Obi-Wan, and together we will destroy the Sith! _

Dooku had been so angry then, so disgusted in the Order and all of the ideals that Jedi held so dear.

Obi-Wan finally understood why, and he, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, High General of the Grand Army of the Republic, had been a sitting member of the High Jedi Council.

He had taken on that responsibility, he had had a voice.

He had failed to use it.

He had let a million injustices pass by, he hadn’t even spoken up for Ahsoka.

Knight Barriss Offee and Count Dooku had been right after all.

He deserved their hatred, their contempt.

Obi-Wan wasn’t a Jedi, he was a fraud.

He was a fool.

“ _ Obi-Wan, _ ” Qui-Gon said, both aloud and through their Padawan and Master bond.

Obi-Wan jumped in his seat and turned to the man he had once known as his Master.

The man he had failed countless times over.

He had not raised Anakin the way Qui-Gon would have, nor had Obi-Wan become the kind of Knight his Master would have been proud of.

Dooku’s voice echoed in Obi-Wan’s memory, he had been so sure then that Qui-Gon wouldn’t have joined his old Master;  _ He knew all about the corruptions of the Senate, but he would never have gone along with it if he had learned the truth as I have. _

__ Obi-Wan had gone along with the corruption of the Senate, and the cost had been paid in blood, sorrow, and chaos.

Cody grabbed his hand, and Obi-Wan stumbled to his feet as Cody led him out of the room. He hardly realized he was crying until the Knights and Masters they passed turned to stare at his face.

It should have been humiliating, but he doubted that anything could make him feel any more ashamed of himself than he did in that moment.

They reached one of the meditation rooms, and Cody pulled him into an embrace that Obi-Wan had no inclination to fight.

“I’m so sorry, Cody,” he managed to choke out as he wrapped his arms around the solid strength that was his Marshal Commander.

If Obi-Wan had ever had a father, it should have been Qui-Gon, but though Obi-Wan had loved his mentor dearly, he had never trusted his relationship with Qui-Gon. Never quite trusted that he was good enough or deserving of Qui-Gon and thus, had been ever wary of depending on him fully.

Of course, maybe he had trusted Qui-Gon despite himself, until his Master had ripped the rug out from underneath him by taking on a new Padawan before his graduation, by using his last breath to ensure Anakin’s future as he died in Obi-Wan’s arms.

Died because of Obi-Wan.

“Qui-Gon was right,” he gasped, “I was never meant to be a Jedi Knight.”

“Shhh,” Cody hushed, “I put the pieces together a month or so ago. I don’t know who the players are yet, but I didn’t share my revelations with you because I knew how you would react.”

_ Force _ , he felt like a child, he felt old and ancient, yet as fragile as blown glass. He felt like saying he had done his best, that he had done what he thought was right, but he hadn’t, had he?

“I was the one who discovered you on Kamino. I-”

Cody pulled back and dropped to one knee, Obi-Wan wasn’t exactly short, but Cody was a big man, so that while on his knee, Obi-Wan was looking down into his familiar face but not by much.

Cody squeezed his arms, “Obi-Wan, listen to me, you are not to blame for the sins of the galaxy, nor the sins of your people.”

Obi-Wan shook his head, “I was on the Council, you and your brother were  _ my people _ . I failed you. I failed Qui-Gon and Anakin and Ahsoka. I failed everyone. I can’t make up-”

“Obi-Wan,” Cody said sharply, almost shaking him, “The war was not your fault. You are one man. Jedi Master or no, High General or no, Council Member or no, you are just one man. What the Sith did, the faults of the Order… they are not your fault. But if you need it, I forgive you.”

Obi-Wan threw his arms around Cody’s neck as his emotion overwhelmed him, Cody’s Force signature shining with light and love and understanding.

How their relationship had evolved like this wasn’t quite clear, but right then, Obi-Wan realized just how much he had needed a father.

* * *

Qui-Gon’s mind was spinning as he pressed his back against the wall, taking careful breaths as he felt the Force presence of his Padawan weighed down by anguish and unimaginable grief be lifted up by Cody’s palpable love for his foundling.

One would have to be completely daft to not have noticed the changes in Obi-Wan’s personality, intelligence, Force presence, and just general bearing.

Qui-Gon had stopped picking at him, had quit trying to unravel the mystery that was Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.

He had instead tried to get to know the person he was now, and help him heal from whatever that had destroyed and remade him in his time away from the Temple.

So when in the middle of a debriefing meeting Obi-Wan’s had ripped open a Force bond Qui-Gon hadn’t even known existed between, at least not such an old and deep-rooted bond, with such pain and regret and sorrow that Qui-Gon had never encountered its match before, he had panicked.

But nothing he said, nothing anyone said, had gotten through to Obi-Wan as he stared at Dooku as if the man had just told him how and when the galaxy implodes. Cody had stepped in before Obi-Wan had burst into tears in front of them all for what should have been nothing more than a distant political issue of a foreign world.

As Obi-Wan’s Master, Qui-Gon had followed, careful to not attract Cody’s attention in any way.

The conversation he had just overheard raised a number of vital issues yet if they proved to be true in their implication would explain why a thirteen year old boy despite his physical limitations was acting like a seasoned warrior.

_ Jedi Master or no, High General or no, Council Member or no, you are just one man. _

But this wasn’t as upsetting to Qui-Gon as the raw pain he felt in Obi-Wan, no one, regardless of age or position, should be carrying around that much hurt. Qui-Gon would have liked to be the one comforting Obi-Wan, he was the boy’s Master, that was supposed to be his job.

But Qui-Gon did not venture from the shadows, there was a pit in his stomach informing him that part of Obi-Wan’s pain was of his making. Somehow, Qui-Gon had managed to inflict deeper wounds on his own Padawan than Zygerrian slave whips had managed.

_ Qui-Gon was right. I was never meant to be a Jedi Knight. _

Qui-Gon closed his eyes wondering how many mistakes he was destined to make. How many people he claimed to care for who would bleed because of his words.

Dooku had always warned him that his lack of verbal communication skills would be the doom of him. Qui-Gon just wished Obi-Wan hadn’t suffered because of his failings.

* * *

AN: That was going to be an action chapter… Thoughts, reactions, certified emotional support animals, or feedback? Pretty please?


	10. Truth

BETA: Thank you Nauze!

Chapter 10 - Truth

Rex let out a sigh of relief as Cody pulled General Kenobi out of the room. Rex and Cody had determined some time ago that they, the clones of Kamino, must have been made by the Sith and their war had been a ploy to destroy both the Republic and the Jedi Order.

It had not been a welcomed realization, but it had been the final factor in whether or not they were going to stop the Kaminoans from remaking their kin.

They wouldn't allow it. There simply was no way to bring that many men into the world for that purpose and be well received by the galaxy.

Cody and Rex were clones in this time but that wasn't their species, even if people found out about the way of their birth, it would be just that.

How they were born, not what they were.

That the Kaminoans had twisted that, had made them slaves, had made them with the intent to go against everything they had been raised to believe…

No.

Kamino wasn't going to be a thriving society when Rex and Cody got done with them. They had approximately ten years to figure out a way to shut down their ability to clone.

They had several plans already, it was just a matter of picking the worst one and perfecting the chaos and damage.

Coming to terms with their history, that the war they had been fighting had been nothing but self-harm, purposely screwing with a single world that had no allies, wasn't on most maps, and had such a small population that they had needed clones for their own procreation, didn't seem so hard.

Revenge might not be the way of the Jedi, but it sure wasn't against the Mandalorian Creed. They were, however, leaving Obi-Wan and Ahsoka out of it.

Ensuring that the Kaminoans were useless to the Sith was not something Cody or Rex felt they needed help with.

Rex sipped his tea and asked the three remaining Jedi Masters, "What else did the Senate say about this certain debacle on Mandalore?"

They all turned to him, and Tahl asked, "You aren't worried about Obi-Wan?"

"Cody has it covered and Obi-Wan will be okay," Rex said, more for Ahsoka's benefit than anyone else's.

She looked up at him with her big blue eyes, the question clear on her face.

He said in Mandalorian, " _He realized that clones were a part of the Sith's plan from the beginning. Obi-Wan was there from the start."_

Ahsoka's hands tightened around her mug but her shoulders slumped in relief.

Everyone had noticed that Obi-Wan hadn't been adjusting well to peace-time, much less everything else. That outburst had been a long time coming.

Tahl, however, wasn't appeased, "What is going on? Enough with the lies and half-truths. That is not Obi-Wan."

Rex sighed, "Yes, it is."

Tahl didn't let up, "He didn't learn three dialects of Mandalorian over the course of a few months. He didn't somehow learn enough about Jedi history and philosophy as a Master Jedi in a few months, and he certainly did not-"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi is his own person," Rex interrupted, "And he is still our foundling. You are lucky he came back to the Order at all."

Qui-Gon re-entered the room then and he visibly flinched at those words.

_Good._

The man should be hurt with the things he had put their General through. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been forced into adulthood and into positions of power that he was never ready for yet ready to give up everything that he was for.

It was why Cody and Rex suddenly found themselves being the stable ones for a man that was, by all rights, three times their age.

But Cody and Rex had always had family, they had had millions of brothers and the teachings of Mandalorians. While being a clone in the GAR was far from a perfect life, was damn close to being a slave in reality, they had never been entrusted with as much power and responsibility as Obi-Wan had been given.

So now in a reality where all those responsibilities had been stripped away, Obi-Wan found himself in a home where no one knew him and the ghosts of future challenges pressing in on him. Obi-Wan didn't know how to be a person; he only knew how to be a leader, a teacher, a peacekeeper, and a warlord. He didn't know how to be himself outside of those titles, nor how to accept that he was no longer alone.

Needing family, needing structure, well that was Rex and Cody's bread and butter. And even if Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were crazy space wizards, taking care of them was comparatively more doable than keeping track of an entire battalion, and in Cody's case, an entire corps.

Tahl was glaring in his direction, "You aren't worried about Obi-Wan, after what I just felt-"

Rex sat his mug down with force, "You just told us the Jedi Council is sending us to a warrior planet with the intention of starting a civil war. Is that not the exact opposite of what you raise your younglings to do? That you are not horrified by such a revelation speaks more poorly on you than Obi-Wan."

Sifo-Dyas paled, "You say that as if that was the only option."

Rex looked at him, "If a Jedi ship arrives without a _public_ invitation by the government on anything but a diplomatic mission, then there will be violence. Mandalore may be a part of the Republic but the Jedi have never, and will never, be welcomed to enforce clan law on other clans."

Ahsoka rubbed her eyes, "Can we tell them no? We won't come?"

Rex shook his head, "If the Jedi don't come when someone on Mandalore does ask for help then no, that would worsen our relations."

Tahl clucked her tongue, "Then what do you want us to do? You say our going will start a war and in the same breath, you say we have to go."

"We show up, but we can't do anything unless we actually find civilians in need of saving," Rex said.

"We aren't going to bodyguard civilians," Dooku said, "We are going to stop the people killing them."

"Well, it isn't the True Mandalorians," Ahsoka said, "It's Death Watch, which is an underground terrorist organization that believes the strong deserve what they can take. Pillage and destruction."

Qui-Gon, who looked extremely tired and worried asked in a rough voice, "You sound as if you speak from experience?"

Ahsoka shrugged, "I've been kidnapped a few times and decapitated a few of them in turn. I-"

Tahl straightened, "Do not be so flippant about taking lives, Padawan."

Dooku defended her before Rex could, "In the position of be or be killed it is better that she be ruthless, especially against Mandalorians."

"Agreed," Rex said, wondering at what his life was coming to when he was agreeing with Kriffing Count Dooku.

"Will they remember you, Ahsoka?" Qui-Gon asked.

"No," she said, "There is none among those who live who would remember me."

Rex thought it might be a problem one day that she was learning to lie so well.

"So what are we supposed to tell the Governor of Gallidaan?" Tahl asked, "Sorry, we just came to watch?"

Rex mulled that over, really hoping that this was something the Jedi and Death Watch instigated and not the Sith. Rex and Cody had started compiling lists of battles that had gone most wrong. That the Sith were a part or had a hand in the Senate had become painfully apparent.

"Perhaps Cody and I can go speak with Jango Fett," he mused, wondering what their dear sire would make of them.

Cody had known Jango better than Rex had. As senior officers, they had both been trained personally by him.

But rumour had it that Cody, Wolffe, and Ponds had gone the furthest with one on one training with the once Mand'alor.

"Who is Jango Fett?" Dooku asked.

Rex sighed, "Someone you do not want to piss off. Do not expect the Mandalorians to lower their weapons first. The True Mandalorians are honourable but they are a proud people, they will not want any part of the Jedi Order sticking their foot into their business. Jango is their leader and to call him protective of his people would be a gross understatement."

"But you think that you and your brother could get through to him?" Sifo-Dyas asked.

Rex nodded, "Yes, he won't trust us but he would speak to us." If to just beat their asses for daring to walk around with _his_ face.

Of course, as much as they were made in his image, none of them, save for Boba Fett, was unaltered from Jango's DNA. The Kaminoans had bred them to be loyal for a start, and well, Cody had told him that Jango actually had asthma. Which had amused the hell out of Rex.

Being blonde had always been problematic, well, more than problematic, but at least, his hair colour was proof that he was more than just Jango's body double.

He was as variable as any natural-born child.

Ahsoka hummed, "We know who the leader of Death Watch is too; would that be enough to get Jango Fett to let us help him?"

Rex smiled at her, he had forgotten that detail, Cody and Ahsoka had actually been more involved with Death Watch than himself and General Skywalker had been. "Yes, I think that might help our cause."

Dooku shook his head, "I do not care what dangers you have faced before, Padawan Tano, we aren't sending the four of you alone into hostile Mandalorian territory."

Ahsoka glared at him but before she could start something, Rex intervened, "You're our politicians, our negators. Mandalorians are as stubborn and obstinate as the Jedi. We'll need you along with us to get the larger government bodies to see reason and possibly play interference for any other clans who'd try using this moment of unrest to usurp the current power structure. If Death Watch is pulling in the Jedi as a rogue variable then they must be desperate."

Ahsoka sighed, "Death Watch is always desperate." Then smirked, "I think Obi-Wan is going to enjoy this mission."

Qui-Gon frowned at her, "Obi-Wan might not be ready for-"

Rex snorted and Ahsoka laughed.

"What is wrong with you two?" Tahl asked, "Nothing about what has been happening to Obi-Wan is funny."

Arguably, there was plenty of amusement to be found in their current circumstances, but Rex settled for, "His not being on active duty is why he's been losing his mind."

Ahsoka grinned, "That he wasn't physically capable of being on active duty, until the last few weeks, has been insult to injury."

"You speak of him as if he's been on countless missions with you before. He _only_ left for a few months."

Ahsoka shook her head, "Before his -injury, I guess we will call it, he sparred with a Sith Lord and survived to do it again."

"There is no one better in a firefight," Rex added, "I've seen Jedi Masters move before but Obi-Wan is the only Jedi I have seen who has specialized in Soresu."

Obi-Wan Kenobi was the only High General who was consistently and literally on _the_ frontline almost all of the time.

"He's like a walking barrier shield," Ahsoka said with a smile, "And the idiots who get too close-" she shook her head. "He and Cody are an absolute terror on a battlefield."

Dooku was frowning at them, "Where would you have experienced that? Melinda/Daan wasn't that- to my understanding, it wasn't that kind of war."

The idea that Galactic Civil War and the role Obi-Wan had had in that war was comparable to a small planetary war was laughable. The only thing about Melinda/Daan was that kids had been fighting against their elders was horrific and that had once upon a time been Obi-Wan's introduction to war at the age of thirteen explained a lot about the man he had become.

"Obi-Wan is not the child you perceive him to be," Rex said.

Cody and Rex had decided that if Obi-Wan wanted to stay in the Order, he was going to have to confide in at least these four Masters about the time travel.

Obi-Wan had agreed but had argued the point that it would be easier for them to figure it out themselves than be told.

But Rex was losing his patience. He didn't know how many more hints they could drop without spelling it out for them.

Tahl was now the first to call it out and not blame Obi-Wan's behaviour on trauma.

"Then who is he?" Tahl pressed.

"Someone who doesn't need everyone talking behind my back," Obi-Wan himself said as he re-entered the room. His face was clear even if his eyes were a bit red.

Cody had his back as he always did.

Obi-Wan retook his seat beside Qui-Gon and Cody sat beside him.

"I apologize for my behaviour," he said in a tone that didn't invite opinion.

Tahl frowned at him, "Rex was just telling us about all the fire-fights you've been in."

Obi-Wan smirked, "I haven't been gone from the room that long."

Qui-Gon said nothing, just staring at Obi-Wan as if trying to see through his exterior.

Tahl shook her head, "If we ask you point-blank what happened to you-"

Obi-Wan sighed, "If we told you, you wouldn't believe us."

"I'm having a hard time believing whatever this is now," she said.

"Do you mistrust us, Master Tahl?"

She was quiet for a moment, "It isn't that I don't trust you, Obi-Wan. It's that I know you're keeping things from us."

"You're not wrong," Obi-Wan said.

"So tell us," she said.

"You will not believe me."

Tahl was about to say more, but Qui-Gon touched her wrist, "That's enough for now, we need to focus on this mission that is apparently going to become a war zone."

Rex narrowed his gaze on Qui-Gon, the man had heard more than he should have, and was now processing. But it was in his serious expression that Rex understood what General Kenobi had meant about not telling the Masters point-blank.

Time traveller was more believable if they came to the conclusion versus being told. Because even now, Qui-Gon looked as if his mind was spinning to find an alternative explanation that did not include time travel.

Rex said, "We know the leader of Death Watch, Cody. We decided that it would be best if you or I speak with Jango."

Cody sighed, "I'll talk to him, you can babysit the Jedi."

"We do not need you to look out for us," Dooku said.

Cody raised his brows, "Death Watch has invited you to Mandalore to die, and no one on Mandalore is going to care about the deaths of unwelcomed _Jetii_. I will speak with Jango, your goal will be to find out who would use the Jedi as assassins."

"Aside from the Senate, that is," Obi-Wan said coldly.

"The Senate does not treat us like assassins, Padawan Kenobi," Sifo-Dyas scolded.

"Really? Then why does the galaxy fear us so much? It isn't as if the galaxy at large really understands our powers. Not that it is necessarily bad, for no one wants to challenge us, but on principle, when the Jedi show up, people are afraid of us."

Rex's heart ached for General Kenobi. It wasn't merely his being off active duty, thrust into a peaceful time that had no recollection of the war, or being trapped in a younger body, even seeing his old peers alive and unscared; it was the slow dismantling of all of his beliefs.

Everything Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had believed about the Jedi was a castle built on sand. It was as if Rex could see the man inside growing more jaded, more resentful of the Senate and the Order.

Oddly, Ahsoka was having the opposite reaction. For her, she was finally getting the chance to be a "normal" Jedi. She grew more optimistic that they could save the future with each sunrise. But she was young, and she had less responsibilities now than she had ever had before.

Obi-Wan was still carrying the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders.

Dooku looked at Obi-Wan, "Sometimes, Padawan Kenobi, it seems as if you don't want to be a Jedi."

Obi-Wan's hands fisted on the table, "I am a Jedi, but that doesn't mean we are always in the right. Being a Light Sider does not mean we are doing what is morally correct."

Dooku raised his brows, "Bold words, Kenobi."

Obi-Wan smiled at him, though it was not a kind or happy expression, "Says the man who walked into this room with the intent to start a planetary civil war."

Dooku shook his head, "That was not our intent."

"Ignorance isn't a good enough excuse," Obi-Wan said with palpable bitterness.

Rex shared a glance with Cody.

Was Obi-Wan even capable of forgiving himself?

"Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said softly even as Cody put a hand on their general's shoulder.

Qui-Gon was looking at Obi-Wan as if he wanted to whisk him away to the healers.

"That's why we came to discuss the matter with Rex and Cody," Dooku said easily.

Obi-Wan narrowed his gaze on the Count, "And if they weren't here? What would you have done?"

Dooku nodded, "Then I would have done my best to discover what I could from the locals with what I could not discern from the archives."

Rex snorted, "Which would have led to them drawing weapons on you, you defending yourselves, and starting a conflict which is exactly what Death Watch wanted and expected you to do. I say again, the Jedi needs another Corps, because you can't play peacemaker and galactic guard. You need regional stations for each Republic planet."

"The Senate would see that as the Jedi taking over the galaxy," Tahl said.

"So what?" Obi-Wan asked, "The Jedi are the ones who made the Republic and as we are the first line of defence, we will be the first to die when the Republic falls apart."

"Which is something the Sith are trying to take advantage of," Ahsoka added.

"The Sith hide in the shadows," Tahl said, "And by your own assertion, there can't be more than a dozen, most likely there are only three. Three Sith cannot wipe out ten thousand Jedi."

"No," Obi-Wan said, "But the Jedi could."

Cody squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulder before saying, "So back to the matter at hand?"

Rex was very glad that they would be getting Obi-Wan back on the field, and hopefully, out of his own head.

* * *

The moment Qui-Gon, Tahl, Sifo-Dyas, and Dooku exited the room, Qui-Gon said, "I need to speak with you all."

Dooku directed them down the hall to his own apartment, and Qui-Gon took lead, going straight for the kettle as the others took seats around the table pressed to a large window that took up most of the main room's outer walls.

Qui-Gon took the time to organize his thoughts as he prepared the tea, knowing what he was about to say was going to make him sound both paranoid and insane.

But there just wasn't any other explanation.

Qui-Gon brought the tray over, taking careful time to prepare the sweeteners in both Sifo-Dyas and Tahl's cups.

He touched Tahl's wrist and placed the warm cup in her hand before taking his own.

Taking in a deep breath, he said on an exhale, "I think Obi-Wan is a time traveller."

Sifo-Dyas nearly choked on his tea.

Dooku looked thoughtful and Tahl said, "You know that's insane right? Because time travel is impossible."

"Technically," Qui-Gon argued, "All things are said to be possible in the Force. Besides, I don't think they did it on purpose. It would explain that ripple we all felt in the Force-"

"But that was two months after Obi-Wan had been on Melinda/Daan," she argued in turn, "There's no way that in a single month they-"

Her words caught as she was hit by the same revelation he had knocked out orbit by.

"Unless," Dooku picked up for her, "They are from a future where not months, but years, possibly decades, have passed."

"Obi-Wan gains back more strength and stability every day even as his mental turmoil seems to be increasing," Qui-Gon said, "He hardly talks to me in our practices and I have never met a child his age that would willingly spend almost each and every day training that hard."

"Ahsoka as well," Dooku said, "But she's older and her previous training seems to have been… harsh."

"She's seventeen, nearly eighteen," Tahl argued, "and we don't actually know anything about her. Obi-Wan on the other hand… I don't know if it is time travel but something has happened to him. It runs deeper than torture or exposure to the violence on Malinda/Daan."

"You've heard them call Obi-Wan, General Kenobi, have you not?" Qui-Gon asked.

They all nodded and Tahl said, "I've heard Ahsoka call him _Master_ Kenobi."

Dooku rubbed his temple, "She certainly treats him with the regard of a Padawan to a Master."

 _Unlike his own relationship_ , went unsaid but not unheard.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi thinks, acts, and speaks like a Jedi Master," Sifo-Dyas finally weighed in. "If he wasn't so consumed with self-loathing then I might have suggested the Council Knight him and be done with it."

Tahl clicked her tongue as if chastising an animal, "He is thirteen and time travel cannot be the only explanation."

"Then what else could it be, Tahl?" Qui-Gon asked her. "Every day we train, he gets better at Soresu."

"As to be expected when you've been doing nothing but training him nearly every hour of _every day_ ," she argued.

Qui-Gon was careful not to say that she hadn't _seen_ his improvement. Instead, he explained, "Soresu is not my mastery, the only Master currently in the Order who specializes with it as their main form is Coleman Trebor who, and I have asked, as never trained with Obi-Wan outside of a few demonstrations for Initiate classes."

"So?" Tahl asked, "What does that prove?"

"He's not just getting better at it," Qui-Gon said, "He's getting closer to mastering it. Sometimes, I think if it came to a real duel between us that I would not be the victor. I've never known a thirteen year old to be that capable."

Tahl shook her head, "He is a child, Qui-Gon, his pain-"

"Age does not dictate the emotional capacity of a man," Dooku said, "and I agree with Qui-Gon. It is as if Obi-Wan has been relearning Soresu. His technical understanding of the Form would shame even Trebor. Even if Obi-Wan has moments of clumsiness, I do not doubt that he could spar with almost any Knight in the Order and not fail. Part of that being because the style itself is nearly impossible to beat. It is a form composed of defence and wearing out one's opponent, his day long training proving he certainly capable of out enduring his peers. So, as Qui-Gon has said, he seems to be mastering the form."

"Which, at the rate he is progressing, would be enough to earn him the rank of Master if he were a Knight and not a Padawan," Sifo-Dyas said.

"What I overheard between Obi-Wan and Cody…" Qui-Gon began, feeling entirely too guilty.

_Qui-Gon was right. I was never meant to be a Jedi Knight._

Tahl touched his arm, "Qui-Gon?"

He sighed, "Cody said; Jedi Master or no, High General or no, Council Member or no… what the Sith did, the faults of the Order. _The war_ was not his fault."

They were all quiet for a length of time, and finally, Tahl said, "Well, that doesn't sound good."

Dooku's posture went rigid.

"What?" Sifo-Dyas asked.

Qui-Gon too was looking at the horror on his Master's face with surprise, he had never seen that particular expression on his face before.

"Obi-Wan said that Jedi could destroy themselves. Ahsoka tried killing me the moment she saw me. She named me Count Dooku. Not Master. They laughed at me for saying I could help her learn to control her emotions…"

Qui-Gon felt his heart sink, "Master…"

Dooku's focus sharpened on Qui-Gon, "You aren't surprised. Why aren't you surprised?"

He didn't know how to answer that.

"You aren't surprised that in the future I would become a Sith Lord," his old Master stated gravely.

Again, Qui-Gon didn't know what to say. He had seen his Master…

Dooku's shock was clear in the Force, "You are afraid of me?"

"No-" Qui-Gon said too fast, but he winced, hearing his own lie.

Dooku stood, towering over them all and Qui-Gon caught his own flinch a half a second too late.

Dooku stared at him, his expression unreadable.

No one said or did anything

Dooku turned on his heel and left the apartment without another word.

Qui-Gon made to stand but Sifo-Dyas gave a sharp motion with his hand, "No, Qui-Gon. Let him be. Do not apologize to him for being afraid."

"But I-"

"Your fear is a product of his own actions. Dooku is not unaware of who and what he is, but perhaps this is the wake up call he needed to understand the price of the path he has chosen to take. Rael is a broken man and talks to Dooku without much regard. He loves you, yet you have avoided him for years and I do not think he understood that this was a personal choice on your part. As for Ahsoka…" Sifo-Dyas sighed. "He is trying, but Ahsoka has not softened towards him at all. Her… _hatred_ of him is a tangible thing. Yet he is so unimportant to her that her distrust of him does nothing to poison her own light. As you hate slavery or a healer abhors torture, this is how she feels toward her Master.

"Dooku has too long treated his actions as if philosophy and intention are larger than the relationships he forges with others."

Qui-Gon didn't know what to say to this, but Tahl, ever his saviour, took the lead, "So Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and the twins are from the future."

"They aren't twins," Qui-Gon said.

"From the future being the keyword there, my dear."

"What else could it be?" he asked, "Cody said Obi-Wan was a High General, a Jedi Master, and a _Council member_."

"I continue to admire how much distaste you put into that title when, and this may come as a shock to you, I am _on_ the High Council," Sifo-Dyas said with annoyance.

"Not the point," Qui-Gon said, "The point is that Obi-Wan is not thirteen years old and that he is currently miserable."

"Also that they all have been lying to us for months," Tahl said, "Though, I'm not sure if I would have believed this when he first came back. I'm finding it hard to believe now."

Sifo-Dyas nodded, "I do not think we should blame them for not telling us. It has been clear from the start that they have been holding back information. In retrospect, many of the things they have spoken of were more than just idle criticisms of the Order."

Qui-Gon tilted his head, "You've thought of something."

"My visions are few and far between now, but before they returned to the Temple, I saw…" He shut his eyes and took a sip of his tea before continuing. "I saw the end of the Jedi Order and the Republic. I saw war machines and I felt- The Force was-"

He drank his tea in one go and frowned at the empty cup as if he were wishing it was something stronger.

He continued nonetheless, "If Obi-Wan was destined to become a Jedi Master on the High Council and became a General, then after seeing what I have seen; I would assume that the Jedi were put in command of the war effort by the Senate, and that General Kenobi was waging a galactic civil war orchestrated by the Sith. And that..."

He stopped, gazing off into the distance.

"And what?" Tahl demanded.

Sifo-Dyas sighed, "That we were on the losing side."

Qui-Gon put his face in his hands.

This couldn't be happening.

His first Padawan wouldn't speak to him after he had very nearly abandoned the Order. His second apprentice had become a Dark Sider, and his third…

Obi-Wan had absolutely no faith in himself, likely because Qui-Gon had been too critical to overcompensate for the way he had been with Xanatos. So whoever Obi-Wan had become, Qui-Gon had failed him as his Master.

Yet it was also painfully clear that Obi-Wan Kenobi was destined to become one of the Order's brightest stars; in what would become their darkest time in millennia.

Qui-Gon suddenly understood all of Obi-Wan's behaviours.

Tahl quoted as his own mind spun around the image of Obi-Wan's expression in his mind's eye as the boy had stared up at one of the murals in the grand halls.

Rex's words in Tahl's voice coloured the memory in new shades, "'You are lucky he came back to the Order at all.'"

The mural was one every Jedi raised at the Temple was familiar with, a two-dimensional star map of the original Republic systems marked by sparkling gems and connected with silver thread.

_A Jedi's purpose is to serve Light and Life. The Force will always be with those who pursue peace for the galaxy._

Obi-Wan had looked at those words as if…

As if he had watched the galaxy burn.

As though the Force had forsaken them and he thought it a just punishment.

* * *

AN: WHAT? Another chapter? So soon? I'm spoiling y'all, please donate feedback below? :D


	11. The Better Jedi

**You May Conquer the Land:** M rated fic, not explicit but a true romance for what I thought would have been actually interesting between Anakin and Padme. It is set to be a novella, under 50k. Lots of inspiration from  _ Ben Hur _ (1959).

* * *

AN: Haven't been too great lately in my head which is why there has been a lot of new ideas with not a lot of focus. Still finished three fics this year though :D

Chapter 11 - The Better Jedi

Cody went down to Mandalore first, and as he descended into the atmosphere he was just praying not to be shot out of the sky.

His breath left him though as he saw what Mandalore was in this time. 

Dense forests, blue skies, rivers, and mountains…

It could have been Alderaan with more grasslands.

Choosing a point in which he knew he would have to hike, Cody brought the shuttle down into a clearing. Not far from where Death Watch’s information had told them to land.

He was not at all surprised to be greeted with a business end of a rifle as he descended down the ramp.

He was just relieved to see it was the man he was looking for.

“Jango Fett,” Cody greeted, wondering if his sire would recognize his own voice.

Most people wouldn’t.

Jango didn’t, as he said in basic, “You are a shame to all of Mandalore.”

_ Perfect, _ Cody thought,  _ those are his first words to me? _

“Listen, I just want to talk-”

“I don’t need no Jetti scum telling me my business.”

Cody rolled his eyes, the movement safely covered by his helmet, he had forgotten how bull-headed young, no scratch that, how bull-headed  _ all  _ Mandalorians were. And switched completely to Mandalorian, “I am not a Jetti,” he touched the symbol on his chest, “I just work for them.”

“You are a Mandalorian?” the outrage in Jango’s voice was offensive.

“In a manner of speaking,” Cody responded.

“You are a disgrace to your armour,” Jango said.

“This isn’t Beskar,” Cody said with irritation, that had never been a privilege he or his brothers had ever been offered or ever hoped to attain.

Only Boba.

The only brother who was born with a name and a father.

Cody saw Jango’s slight tell as he readied to pull the trigger, and Cody’s training kicked in as he lunged for the man, the blaster shot missing his shoulder by a hair’s breadth.

Cody grabbed the barrel of the rifle, and yanked Jango forward into his waiting knee.

Only Cody didn’t aim for his face, Beskar was stronger than his knee plating, but the padding around Jango’s neck was a fair target.

An awkward angle for it certainly, however, that didn’t matter so much because enough momentum still wasn’t going to feel great.

Of course, a little thing like not being able to breathe didn't stop Jango for an instant.

But Cody knew all Jango's tricks, and though he had never been able to beat his maker, among his brothers, only Ordo and Alpha had been better than Cody. Although Ordo's training had been different in ways that Cody almost suspected him to have been trained off world and hardly ever with Jango. Alpha was older and probably had more training with Jango than either Cody, Wolffe, or Ponds had had. Yet as hard as his brothers trained, Cody was the acknowledged perfectionist in everything he had ever attempted. He had memorized Jango to the time of his breaths before firing a blaster or drawing a weapon.

Cody would never tell Rex that his little brother had the potential to be better than everyone except Ordo, who had been genetically modified to have a photographic memory and advanced agility, not until Rex regularly and reliably beat Cody into the mat, that is.

But none of that mattered now.

Jango Fett was now the younger man, and Cody had survived a war, time travel, and training with Jedi Knights.

And matching those speeds wasn't something this Jango was prepared for.

Cody found the click to Jango's helmet and as Jango brought him down to grapple with him, their proximity limited almost everything else; Cody rolled, taking Jango's helmet off while following through with an elbow to the face. 

Cody hesitated a bare moment, his surprise making him voice his thoughts, "By the Force, you look like a shiny."

Not quite a teen, but on the younger side of those allowed on the fields. Of course, that meant in years lived, Jango was still older.

Jango tried to knee him with enough force that it cracked the plating on his thigh that he turned to guard himself.

"You will die this day," Jango growled.

"I'm trying to help you," Cody said, getting in a sharp punch to Jango's cheek.

Jango's verbal response was wonderfully colourful.

Cody managed to get to his feet, and he had to keep backing away.

Stupid Beskar, it gave Jango such an advantage. Cody's army had proven that it would not hold up to a direct hit from those plated limbs and in return, Cody had few places he could make effective hits that wouldn't be lethal or crippling.

To Jango's next stream of slurs, Cody responded, "I don't have a mother."

Jango lunged at him, "Your father was an honourless bastard who abandoned y-"

Cody fainted, then with a move Obi-Wan had taught him, he caught the man in a headlock and brought him back to the ground. As Jango's struggles began to weaken, Cody whispered in his ear, "Yes,  _ Fett _ . You did."

* * *

Dooku had been deviated to realize Qui-Gon was afraid of him.

Of the ways he could have failed his Padawan, that level of failure he had even imagined.

Rael, he knew, didn't fear him, but then Rael perhaps didn’t have the sense to fear anyone or anything.

But Qui-Gon had been Dooku’s pride, and he thought himself capable of doing near anything for the boy…

Which he supposed was part of the problem.

He didn’t know how to fix things with Qui-Gon, he supposed pulling himself further away from the edge of the Dark over a long period of time was all he could hope for.

As for Ahsoka…

He never imagined earning anyone’s respect would be quite so difficult. Even if Qui-Gon feared him, he still had his apprentices’ respect.

But Ahsoka honestly hated him, a hatred that seemed to grow no matter what he did. Almost as if his good behaviour was showing her just how far he had fallen.

Things made more sense, of course, now that he knew she was a time traveller.

That she had seen him as a Sith Lord.

A part of him really didn’t want to know what he had done.

Another part of him knew that over time, Ahsoka would tell, would rub it in his face.

He deserved no less.

But whatever his crimes, whatever Ahsoka had suffered, her holding onto it wasn’t helping her.

He found her in one of the Temple’s workrooms, tinkering with some part of machinery.   


She didn’t look up as she asked, “What do you want?”

He fought not to flinch at her tone, that she was now justified in her dislike of him made dealing with her snappishness more difficult.

“You and I must talk before we depart for this mission.”

“Must we?” she repeated ironically.

He sat beside her on the bench, that was likely greasy, without invitation. “We must come to some accord, Padawan Tano, it is to your detriment that we do not.”

She said nothing.

He waited, but she was undeterred by the silence. Still, he waited as she continued to tinker with the part.

Finally, he spoke, realizing that her level of stubbornness would indeed keep her quiet for the evening, “You like mechanics?”

“No.”

He blinked, surprised, and asked, “So why are you here?”

“Because it’s better to be prepared then be dead in space waiting for someone to save you.”

He wondered if her original Jedi Master had taught her that. Dooku was pretty sure her Master hadn’t been Obi-Wan, there was certainly respect between them, but they lacked a certain imbalance or dependence that existed between most Padawans and their Masters.

Ahsoka cared for Obi-Wan, and he for her, but they weren’t such a pair, if anything they seemed more like a true family.

“Admirable use of your time then,” he remarked.

She rolled her eyes and finally looked up at him, “What do you want, Dooku?”

He sighed, “Padawan, it is not necessary that we be friends-”

“That’s never going to happen,” she snapped.

His eyes narrowed at her tone, seeing the Force wrap around her violently.

It was enough. She might be a Light Sider, but she was pushing her own limits with this purposely feud she was constructing between them.

“You can consider me your enemy, then,” he said, “Our enemies are often our greatest teachers.”

Again, she rolled her eyes, “Clever.”

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked, needing her direct answer.

“No.”

There was no lie in her voice.

Some part of him relaxed even as he asked, “Do you wish to become a Jedi Knight?”

“Yes.”

“Then you must get past your hatred of me, overcome your anger. Whatever I've done, whatever I could do, whatever choices I make they are not yours. Who I am should have no bearing on your heart.”

She scoffed, “You think I care about you that deeply?”

“I think you have been using your distrust of me as an excuse to drink your bitterness down like liquor to numb the fear.”

“I just told you that I am not afraid of you.”

“Perhaps not, but you are afraid of the things that you cannot control, of the injustices that you know are coming and will continue to come no matter what you do.”

She stared at him with bright blue he had seen grow darker by the day.

She and Obi-Wan were drowning. 

Some thought it was during the war that were the hardest years. 

It wasn't.

In war, there was structure even within the chaos. You lost people and you moved on because you had to, because the person next to you was counting on you and they had lost people too.

In some sense, you were never alone in a war, even if you died unwitnessed, unnamed, you were still a part of a bigger event.

After the war had ended, things became less clear, and the damage that remained afterwards, the lingering fear and those who suffered… it sometimes appeared worse than during the wartimes. The scars of the fire remained longer than the moments spent within the flames.

What had your people died for? What had you killed for?

The waging of war was a debt that could never be paid, yet the reasons for it were too often petty.

And Ahsoka, Dooku had surmised, hadn't just been a soldier following orders. She had been an officer of some kind.

She had known failure, she had led men to their deaths.

Obi-Wan had too.

Led so many to die for a war that had been a game to destroy them on both sides. He had seen that clearly enough in Obi-Wan’s eyes, after putting the pieces together in the questions the Mandalorians had asked and from what Qui-Gon had overheard.

Of course, if Obi-Wan had been a Council member, his digestion in mental health trapped in the Temple was immensely understandable.

The High Council had too much power within the Order.

“You think you know me, but you don't,” Ahsoka said, her gaze searching his expression.

“Do you want to be a Jedi?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation.

“Then you need to start respecting me.”

She shook her head, “No, respect is earned.”

“Tell me, Padawan Tano, in your vision, were you capable of beating me?”

She was quiet for a beat. She had never claimed to have a vision, but short of accusing her of being a time traveller, which at this point would be a counterproductive discussion, he thought it logical to assume she had had a vision of him falling. Ahsoka answered, almost sullenly, “No.”

He smiled, “I see in you a Knight capable of it. But a Jedi Knight respects their enemy, not for their cruelty or their deeds, but because they stand as a counter balance of what you wish to achieve. Balance is not all goodness, balance is keeping the light in balance with the dark; the dark that can always see the light, and the light that never forgets it exists in darkness. You need not like me to benefit from my teachings. But if it is as a Jedi you wish to walk the path of, you must overcome your hate, see beyond it, or you will forever be a servant to your emotions.”

She looked down at her hands, running a thumb over the dirty part for a long moment before she said, “My old Master used his beliefs to strengthen his convictions. It made him stronger. He was so passionate that it seemed as if he could stand against the entire galaxy.”

Dooku doubted such a Knight had reached the status of Master. He kept his voice gentle as he asked, “Doubtless it made him a fine leader of men, but did it help him listen to the Force.”

“My Master was very powerful,” she said, looking up at him, uncertainty in her face, “I admired him greatly.”

“There are many powerful Jedi among the Order, myself included, but does that make a Jedi great or is it their affinity with the Force?”

Ahsoka’s white marking at her brows rose, “Aren’t they one and the same?”

“Is it?” he asked in turn, “Tell me, Padawan, who do you think is the better Master, myself or Master Tahl?”

He certainly knew his Padawan preferred Tahl to himself, though it was hard to be truly jealous of that fact; Tahl was a star among moons.

“Is that a trick question?” Ahsoka asked.

“No, it is a simple question, who do you think is the better Jedi Knight. Not who is stronger or who would win a duel, but who is the better Jedi. We are, above all else, Ahsoka, a religious people.”

Ahsoka stared at him, “Master Tahl is the better Jedi, her every breath seems to be taken with the Force. She feels… she feels like a bird, always gliding through it like air beneath her wings.”

Dooku nodded, “I agree. Master Tahl is most exceptional among the Order though despite her being fair within a duel, she is not counted among greatest warriors. Our greatest Jedi, certainly, but not warriors. No, it is her relationship with the Force that few Jedi could ever hope to achieve that sets her apart.”

“You really think she is better than you?” Ahsoka asked.

_ No one in the Order fears Tahl would hurt them, _ he thought morosely, “I do. With that in mind, let me ask you this, where would you measure your previous Master against our dear Tahl?”

“My Master could have beaten her in a duel,” she said at once, then hesitated, “But he was never at peace with the Force, he doesn’t hear it like she so obviously does.”

“What type of Jedi Master do you wish to become, Ahsoka Tano?” he asked.

She just looked at him, her thoughts focused inward.

He stood, “I can teach you how to be a great warrior, Padawan, but only you can decide how deeply you trust the Force to guide your path.”

* * *

Ahsoka was conflicted as she made her way back to their suite, Cody had already left and they would be leaving early in the morning.

“Hey, Tano,” Rex greeted her, “You alright?”

“Hi, Rex, yeah, I’m fine, is Obi-Wan in?”

Rex nodded, setting down his datapad, likely researching the Mandalore of this time like she should have been, “Yeah, he’s in his room.”

Ahsoka dipped her head, “Thanks.” Before striding to the room.

She knocked but hardly waited for Obi-Wan’s affirmation as she hit the open switch.

Obi-Wan was sitting on his bed curled around a cup of tea with a blanket wrapped around himself.

For a moment, she forgot that he was her senior by decades and just smirked at the image he made.

Obi-Wan for his part said, “Come sit, you ungrateful grandpadawan.”

She huffed, joining him on the mattress as she asked, “Who says I’m ungrateful?”

“The amusement on your face,” he responded, before taking a sip of his tea. He didn’t ask her what’s up, that wasn’t often Obi-Wan’s way.

He let you decide when you wanted to talk.

Sometimes she wondered if that was part of the tension between Obi-Wan and Anakin. Anakin, despite his protests, liked to be nagged, while Obi-Wan was sometimes overly respectful of people’s privacy, preferring to keep his silence than impose on anyone.

Even if he was the one who needed help.

“Dooku spoke with me,” she began.

“Did he?” Obi-Wan asked in that cultured tone of his.

“He said, even if we are enemies, there is still much he could teach me as my enemy. And that if I wanted to be a Jedi, I had to get over my anger at him.”

“He's right,” Obi-Wan said before taking another sip of tea.

She startled at the immediacy of his response, “You're taking his side in this?”

“Ahsoka," he sighed, “The way of the Jedi is not to hold grudges. Forgiveness-”

“You could forgive him for the things he's done?” she demanded.

“He hasn't done anything yet, Padawan. He is still a Master Jedi, among the finest in the Order. He lost faith in the Senate and became disillusioned with the Order bowing to it. Those aren’t such terrible faults.”

Ahsoka stared at him, "Are you disillusioned with the Order?"

He looked at her, "I was Qui-Gon's Padawan, I was never truly unaware of the faults within the Order or those of the Council."

"But you were on the Council."

"Ahsoka… after what they, we, did to you, do you truly believe that I could do anything other than have doubt in them? In myself?"

Fondness filled her.

He continued, "I don't know how Anakin would have handled your leaving, and you  _ know _ he has deep rooted reservations when it comes to the Council. But Dooku blamed Qui-Gon's premature death on the Council and the Naboo Crisis on the Senate."

"Anakin doesn't hate the Senate," she said before asking, "Do you believe it was the Council's fault Qui-Gon died?"

"Anakin believed in the Chancellor, but he never much liked the Senate with a few outstanding exceptions." Then he fell quiet for a time before saying, "I blamed myself for my Master’s death, Ahsoka."

She touched his arm, "You were still a Padawan then, it couldn't have been your fault."

He nodded, "If I were to face it logically, I suppose you are right. Maul was a Master in Juyo and Nimon, that much was clear. I had yet to fully adapt to Ataru. Additionally, the Sith will always have the advantage over the Jedi, or at least they did in this era, because the Jedi do not train to kill as the Sith did."

"So if not you, do you agree with Dooku, that it was the Council’s fault?"

Obi-Wan looked off into the distance, before saying slowly, "Qui-Gon and I told the Council about Maul. We told them that we believed, with little uncertainty that he was a Sith Lord. Yet the Council sent us back to Naboo with Padme.”

“If you had been on the Council that isn’t the choice you would have made,” she surmised.

He looked at her, his youthful face at complete odds with the shadows in his eyes, “If I could have asserted my own view, no. No, I would have not. They should have sent Mace and Dooku himself, not Qui-Gon and a Padawan. No matter how close I was to Knighthood, no Padawan should be purposely pitted against the Sith. And while Qui-Gon is an excellent duelist, he’s not a killer. He lacks that survival drive to put his life before his enemies. Anakin and you were more prepared for dealing with someone like Maul than Qui-Gon was.”

“But you killed him,” she said softly.

He tapped his mug with a finger, an irritated gesture, “In the assumption that cutting a sentient in half and having them fall down a reactor shaft would in fact kill him, yes, I did, but only after he killed my Master. Only after I stopped caring whether I lived or died as long as I stopped him.”

She swallowed, “Did you… did you use the Dark Side?”

He looked at her and she was relieved to see he didn’t look offended, “No, I was angry, distraught, but no, I did not use those emotions. For whatever reason, the Dark has never spoken to me. When I focus too hard on my negative emotions, my connection with Force breaks, leaving me near helpless, only muscle memory and training keep me going when that occurs. 

“Against Maul… I almost lost because of that. He almost had me, but then I was trying so hard to feel Qui-Gon through the Force. When I felt that he was still there, even barely, that he was still alive and with me, I ended up giving myself fully to the Force in sheer relief.”

She wrapped her arm around him, “I’m sorry, Obi-Wan.”

He leaned into her, “I’m alright, Padawan, but you see, I do understand where and why Dooku broke from the Order, even if I don’t quite understand why he surrendered to the Dark and betrayed the galaxy.”

“But you think I should honestly trust him as my Master?” she asked, “I only agreed so he wouldn’t leave the Order. I don’t understand him at all.”

Obi-Wan shrugged, “Dooku was recluse, I never met him despite us living in the Temple at the same time. I even spent enough time in the archives that I should have run into him as it was said the archives were where he haunted, but I never saw him. He isolated himself in places where only Masters were allowed.”

“Well, aside from him being pulled from the archives,” she asked, “do you think he has changed? Do you really think my being his Padawan could change him?”

“Because of you? Absolutely. I don't think you realize quite how hard he has been trying to earn even a glimmer of your respect.”

She blinked at him incomprehension.

Which made Obi-Wan smile with a boyish grin, “I remember having the same difficulties with Anakin, but Ahsoka, oh, Ahsoka, Dooku is a well seasoned Master. He has had two Padawans who have both risen to Masters before you. Yet  _ you _ have had him dancing on eggshells.”

She frowned, “I keep waiting for him to get sick of me.”

“He won't,” Obi-Wan said with certainty, “he might not like having to play these games, but you are truly extraordinary, Ahsoka. There is no greater honour than being the Master who sees you to Knighthood.”

She felt herself flush, “Master… I-”

“You have already won Dooku over. As well as Master Yoda for that matter. You should see how Yoda watches you both training together, even with the guise of being a Sith apprentice, I doubt Yoda will ever risk your leaving the Order now.”

She pulled her legs up to her chest, “Dooku said Tahl is a better Master than he was.”

“Did he?” Obi-Wan asked, a lilt of surprise in his tone.

“Do you agree?” she asked in turn.

Obi-Wan nodded, “I do, and I think better of him for being that self-aware.”

“But she died,” Ahsoka said.

Obi-Wan hugged her to his side, “I know, but her light burned long after she passed.”

“You never spoke of her though,” Ahsoka ventured, her voice falling.

Obi-Wan was quiet for a long, long moment, before he said, “There is no death, only the Force. Hers was the first death I felt that was welcomed by the Force, as if she had returned home. It felt strangely right, that she had become who she was born to be. All things begin and end within the Force, she taught me that.”

“Didn’t you miss her?” Ahsoka asked, even as he felt Obi-Wan’s grief, even as he blinked back tears.

His voice was rough when he said, “More than I could have possibly imagined. But that pain never outweighed the joy of having known her.”

Ahsoka rested her head on his shoulder, “Do you think we can make a difference this time around?”

He rested his head lightly on the top of her montrals, “We already have, little one. The Force is with us.”

* * *

AN: Thoughts, feedback, mongooses, or reactions, pretty please?


	12. Homicidal Baby Jedi

KeyNote: Apparently Galdiraan is its own system. But fuck it. Galdiraan is a town or something on one of the Mandalore moons during winter for the purposes of this fic. Thank you Nauze!!!!

Chapter 12 - Homicidal Baby Jedi

“This is going to be fun,” Ahsoka said as they dropped out of lightspeed.

“Yes, nothing like flying into Mandalorian territory with a Jedi insignia,” Obi-Wan replied drily but there was mirth in his eyes.

“We haven’t heard anything from Cody yet,” Tahl remarked, “Do you think he’s alright?”

“He’s fine,” Obi-Wan affirmed.

Qui-Gon glanced at him, “You state that as fact, apprentice.”

Obi-Wan shrugged, “I feel him in the Force, he is well, still irritated but that is somewhat normal.”

Dooku watched Ahsoka startle, “You can feel him from this far away?”

Obi-Wan nodded, “Him and his brothers, since near the beginning.”

Shock and concern flooded Ahsoka’s expression and she exchanged a look with Rex.

It took Dooku a moment to translate implications.

Had Cody and Rex’s people gone to war alongside the Jedi? That would have been a formidable army.

But for Obi-Wan to be sensitive enough to sense his army’s lifeforce across the galaxy…

The magnitude of death he would have to deal with on a regular, if not daily, basis was staggering.

Even if Obi-Wan had been a skilled general with such a level of compassion… or perhaps it made him a better leader in the end.

Only the personal cost isn’t one Dooku would have wanted to pay.

“I’m not sure that the governor gave us the correct coordinates,” Sifo-Dyas said as they entered the atmosphere.

Obi-Wan stepped between Sifo-Dyas and Qui-Gon’s seats to lean over Qui-Gon to toggle the graphed map.

“I’m guessing he gave us where the True Mandalorian base is, we need to speak with the governor first,” Obi-Wan said as he found the correct position of the main state-building of this moon and Sifo-Dyas redirected their course.

“Do you think the governor is in on it?” Rex asked.

“I think it is more likely than not-” Obi-Wan lunged over Sifo-Dyas for the controls, turning the half-wheel and pushing down.

Rex and Ahsoka kept their feet despite the spinning while Dooku was left to cling to Tahl’s seat.

The missile clipped their engine. But as it looked like a tracking missile, they were lucky.

“And that’s why we stay buckled up until landing,” Tahl said cheerfully to Dooku.

He scowled at her and she smiled up at him, unable to see his expression but guessing his response or interrupting it in the Force correctly.

“This is the Mandalore system, they will have more missiles,” Rex said.

“I say we fake our deaths,” Ahsoka said, “They will owe us a ship once this madness is solved.”

“Agreed,” Obi-Wan said, hitting the button for the back hatch.

Dooku braced himself against the wintry wind that swept through the hull as Obi-Wan pulled on his coat and grabbed a second, “Come on, Master Tahl, time to unbuckle, we’ve reached our stop.”

Dooku offered a hand to Tahl as she did as instructed, she found his hand and clung to him for balance as a second missile clipped them, this time it was Sifo-Dyas still in the captain seat that saved them.

“Let’s go,” Qui-Gon said, even though Rex, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan were already waiting for them completely geared and ready.

Force, they were quick.

“Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon warned, seeing how close his Padawan was to the hatch, “We a still rather high up-”

Obi-Wan put a hand to his forehead, “Oh no, and I’m afraid of heights.” Then proceeded to fall back into the wind in a mock faint.

Ahsoka laughed and flipped backwards off the edge of the hatch.

“Tano!” Rex called, more annoyed than surprised as he dived out after her.

There was a moment when the four of them just stood there.

“Did the two Padawans and non-Force sensitive just jump before we got our coats on?” Tahl asked.

“It would appear so,” Sifo-Dyas said.

Qui-Gon muttered to himself as he finished zipping up his coat before coming forward and scooping Tahl up in his arms as he made the leap.

Sifo-Dyas laughed, even Dooku couldn’t restrain a smile as he and his old friend jumped into the sky.

There was rarely any cause to actually use the Force for such a frivolously activity.

Well, at least they had all been taught it was frivolous.

But it was fun, and for a brief time, it felt like having wings.

It was as if it wasn’t the air they fell through but the Force as they opened themselves up to the tide to catch their mass.

They arrived in time to see Ahsoka and Obi-Wan work in unison to catch Rex, so he landed softly on his feet.

“You’re very calm about that,” Qui-Gon noted.

“The first time they pushed me off a wall without warning,” Rex said deadpan.

Obi-Wan shook his head in mild disappointment but Ahsoka laughed, “It was a good bonding exercise.”

Rex responded in Mandalorian.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and responded in the same language, Dooku only catching the name Anakin.

“Shall we, Mandos,” Sifo-Dyas said, “We have a long way to walk.”

“Well, if I trip and fall, at least I’ll land in snow,” Tahl remarked.

“I’m not going to let you fall,” Qui-Gon said earnestly.

The look Obi-Wan exchanged with Dooku would have been enough for him to know that no, Obi-Wan was not the thirteen-year-old he appeared to be.

* * *

Rex wasn’t sure what he expected when they landed here, but the looks received as he stepped into the governor's estate had him smiling underneath his helmet.

Being thought of as an abomination because people got absurdly offended by his being born in a lab was not pleasant, but purposely pissing his ancestors' people off by wearing the Jedi insignia across his breastplate and his shoulders was just fun.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka walked on either side of him, both out of protection and support.

His smile fell away, however, when he saw who stood at the governor's side.

The governor of Galidraan was a small timid man dressed in finery with greedy beady eyes.

At his side was a mountain of a man will long black hair that spilled over his black armour like ink. At his side was a smaller boy, maybe in his late teens, with snow blonde hair and eyes so clear he looked sightless.

They, as the rest of Mandalorians in the room, had the Death Watch insignia. It was only logical to assume the ones they passed were in on it too.

There were maybe twenty-two of them altogether.

Obi-Wan stepped forward before anyone else spoke, the other four having been informed on what insignia to look out for, “Governor of Galidraan, Tor and Pre Vizsla, we have come at the Senate’s request, though I admit to confusion on any in the Mandalorian system requesting Jedi aid. It is most unprecedented in our history.”

The large Mandolarian, Tor Vizsla as General Kenobi had addressed him, lost his air of confidence, his expression shutting down.

They hadn’t been expected to be identified straight out of the gait, the younger one, Pre looked wide-eyed up at his leader. 

“Especially considering the small army you’ve gathered for yourselves in this building alone,” Rex commented, unless they were really stupid, they had to have known that he and the Jedi would have noted their presence.

If they were normal Jedi, Rex might have worried about their numbers. 

But Ahsoka had survived Death Watch before and Rex trusted Obi-Wan to know the strengths of the other Masters to have not brought them here if they couldn’t handle it.

“The child and a Mandalorian speak for the Jedi representative?” the Governor asked, his voice reedy, completely ignorant to the tension building in the room.

They had arrived at the wrong spot, and Obi-Wan had warned them that Death Watch was volatile enough to start up conflict and try pinning it on the True Mandalorians as most Jedi wouldn’t have been able to identify between factions within Mandalore.

Obi-Wan spoke in this moon’s dialect, his understanding of the language was flawless, which shouldn’t have been surprising, Cody was the same.

_“We came here to negotiate peace and find your terrorists, fortunately for you, not all with the Order are ignorant to your culture.”_

Tor Vizsla stiffened, the rage on his face was harrowing, Obi-Wan had said that Dooku had once described him as a barbarian.

The look of madness in the man's dark eyes made Rex think that perhaps that description had been charitable.

" _How does a Jetii come to speak our language?"_ Tor asked with a gravelly voice that made Rex suspect he smoked.

Rex answered in basic to bring the other Master into the conversation, even the Negotiator wasn’t getting them out of this without violence., “He is my foundling.”

“He’s a Jedi!” Pre exclaimed.

Rex nodded, “Which is why I joined the Order.”

Pre gave him an expression as one sucking on sour grapes.

“You are a disgrace,” Tor said.

“I’m sorry, but aren’t you the ones asking for _our_ help?” Ahsoka asked.

Tor cursed at her.

Ahsoka’s response had to have been something Fives taught her, even Obi-Wan winced.

Tor actually growled.

Qui-Gon stepped in, “Our ship was shot out of the sky.”

“Because you didn’t go where we told you to go,” the Governor said in a tone.

The Count put his hands on his hips but subtly stepped to cover Ahsoka’s blindspot as Qui-Gon stepped closer to Tahl.

Rex let himself relax, readying himself into the moment.

Tor was going to attack, it screamed in every line of his body, and no amount of talk or logic was going to get through to him.

“We will not act without a clear objective,” Dooku drawled.

“You must kill the True Mandalorians,” the Governor commanded as if still had control over this situation.

“I thought our objective was to apprehend them and discover their operations,” Sifo-Dyas remarked lightly.

Tor snarled, “ _Jetii scum!”_

Rex dropped with his rifle blaster already in hand. Ideally, firing from the ground wasn’t the greatest position but he had six Jedi to literally cover his ass, and firing at waist or chest height would have gotten in their way. From the ground, the Jedi would have no problem side stepping his shots.

Tor roared as he barreled toward them, Rex caught the Governor in the heart. Sure, maybe the Jedi would have preferred him alive but as far as Rex was concerned, this was an assassination attempt on his family.

Rex wasn’t going to forgive that.

Tor pulled the Dark Sabre and Ahsoka met him with equal amounts of aggression and strength.

“We need him alive, Ahsoka!” Obi-Wan warned even as he sliced through a Death Watch moron who got too close and reflected a bolt back at another that hit him in the throat.

They dropped instantly.

“Master Dooku!” Ahsoka called, spin-leaping out of the way as Dooku took her place.

The idea that any non-Force sensitive could win against Count Kriffing Dooku was laughable and Rex was proud of Ahsoka to know herself well enough that her energies were best spent elsewhere.

Obi-Wan tripped Pre Vizsla and Ahsoka kicked him with a full-on round house strike to the head. When the boy met the floor, he didn’t get back up.

Rex smiled, it was nice to be on the winning side.

* * *

Qui-Gon knew Obi-Wan wasn’t thirteen, he also knew that Ahsoka had been trained in war.

But by all that graced the galaxy…

He and Tahl were still going back and forth with the three Mandalorians who had come from the back entrance as the eight who they had passed in the hallway came spilling into the greeting hall.

Two of them lost both their limbs thanks to Obi-Wan and three lost their heads thanks to Ahsoka.

Qui-Gon had trained with Ahsoka long enough to know that he was the superior Ataru wielder, but he had never seen it demonstrated before now what his own Form could do when one's objective was purely lethal.

Tahl managed to kill the final Mandalorian they had been dealing with. 

Sifo-Dyas was just standing there, watching the two supposed Padawans as Dooku continued playing with Tor Vizsla.

The Dark Sabre, Qui-Gon admitted had a distinctly cool look to it.

Ahsoka sprinted out of sight as Obi-Wan helped Rex jump to the next floor's interior balcony with a Force assist before following himself.

Sifo-Dyas stared blankly at where they had been, “I saw war, but I didn’t see what our people were capable of.”

Tahl caught Qui-Gon’s arm as he made to follow them, “I think they have it, Qui-Gon, they killed most of the men in this room.”

A few minutes later, Dooku disarmed Tor, the tip of his sabre under the wild man’s chin.

Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and Rex reentered the room with not a scratch, Rex gave the sign for the all clear.

“My Padawan could have killed you before you drew your weapon,” Dooku taunted.

“You killed my men!” Tor hissed.

Rex stepped around Dooku and flicking a setting on his rifle, shot Tor down with a stunner.

“Well,” Obi-Wan said, “That went smoother than expected.”

Qui-Gon gaped at him, “That’s how you define smooth?”

Obi-Wan nodded and answered seriously, “None of us got hurt.”

Even Tahl was upset by how blasé he was being, “Obi-Wan Kenobi, we just killed twenty men.”

Ahsoka snorted, “It’s the Mandalore system, and more than that, it’s Death Watch.”

Rex knelt to check Pre’s pulse, the boy was apparently still breathing and he heaved the dead weight over his shoulder.

Obi-Wan started walking further into the building.

“Where are you going?” Qui-Gon asked as Rex and Ahsoka followed him.

“We need a ship,” Ahsoka answered, “mind grabbing the other one, Master Jinn?”

Qui-Gon blinked, then knelt to throw the armoured man over his shoulder, as he rose he passed the Dark Sabre to a smug Dooku.

“You’re enjoying this too much, Master,” he muttered.

Dooku actually smiled, “I found a cure to boredom, and I’m finding it most delightful.”

Tahl chuckled, “We are all doomed.”

* * *

Dooku was ecstatic that Ahsoka had called to him for help, sure, she had done it for strategic efficiency, but still, it was a distinct step forward.

Of course, once they were all the stolen ship, the issue they had all been skirting rose up.

“You’ve dealt with Death Watch before,” Qui-Gon stated.

“We already told you that,” Ahsoka said lazily.

Qui-Gon shook his head, and stated directly, “You are all time travellers and Obi-Wan isn’t thirteen.”

Obi-Wan let out a long sigh.

Qui-Gon stepped toward him, “Obi-Wan, I overheard you and Cody speaking. You don’t have to keep pretending.”

Obi-Wan looked at him with unreadable blue eyes, “Yes, we are from the future, no we don’t know how it happened, no we do not think the Force will return us to our time. We are stuck here and you with us.”

There was an awkward silence.

“There’s more,” Qui-Gon pushed, because he always pushed, “you must tell me?”

Dooku could have slapped his apprentice for taking that tone.

Understably, it got under Obi-Wan's skin straight away.

“Must I?” Obi-Wan challenged, “Of course there is more but we, _I_ , don’t have to tell you anything.”

Dooku did not envy Qui-Gon at that moment.

“Why do you think you failed me?”

Obi-Wan turned to Qui-Gon fully, going toe to toe with the other Master, and Dooku saw the man that Obi-Wan had become, stature notwithstanding. “I let you die.”

Qui-Gon didn’t flinch, death had never frightened him, “How?”

“Darth Maul killed you while we were duelling him.” Obi-Wan took in a deep breath, “I cut him in half and I was knighted for that. But even in that I failed, because apparently bisection wasn’t enough to keep him dead.”

“Obi-Wan, that is not failure.”

The boy who was not a boy gazed at him, and Dooku knew the man stood on a knife’s edge.

There was so much pain and regret in him. Perhaps Qui-Gon’s sins were not things he had done yet or would do now, but for Obi-Wan’s sake, Dooku hoped that Qui-Gon would allow his apprentice the opportunity to let obsesses drain.

Qui-Gon did not disappoint him, “What are you leaving out? The deeds of a Sith are not your doing, Obi-Wan, even if you made strategic miscalculations. I did not die by your hand.”

Ahsoka shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up to wrap her arms around them as she looked away. Perhaps this conversation was owed privacy, but looking back at Obi-Wan, Dooku saw that it was too late.

“You never wanted me, Qui-Gon,” Obi-Wan stated. “Does it really surprise you that I never amounted to the standards you set?”

“Yes, if Ahsoka’s regard for you is anything to go by, then yes, I would find it surprising that you did not become a fine Jedi Knight. You were advanced to the rank of Master, you sat on the Council.”

Obi-Wan’s expression twisted and in Dooku’s second sight he saw the man he would grow to as he began to pace the floor, Obi-Wan’s formidable shields slipping, revealing more of himself than he likely would have wished to have done. “Say that with a little more disdain, why don’t you?”

“Obi-Wan, whatever my view of the Council is, it is an accomplishment-”

Obi-Wan scoffed, “An accomplishment? Is that what you want to call it? I tried so hard to be perfect just to spite you. My great Master who found fault in everything I did, who couldn’t be bothered to heed the Council, who preferred the company of plants to people. You did _nothing_ by the book. You loved and you left. Always independent, always ten steps ahead of everyone else and _never_ explaining yourself, never feeling you owed it to anyone to explain. Because you _listened_ to the Force, because your interpretation of the Living Force was more correct than anyone else's.”

“Obi-Wan-” Qui-Gon said softly.

Obi-Wan turned on him, “I was always in your shadow, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep up with you. I never could, and you faulted me for it, but I was _a child_ , Qui-Gon, do you understand that? I was bull-headed and naive but I was your charge and your method of teaching was to let me flounder. You would save me after the chaos you left me in, but the expectation was that I could have been independent and make my own way. But that wasn’t who I was, so with your lack of clear instruction, except to say my way was the wrong way, I turned to the Jedi teachings. I turned to the Code and the archives because at least they used _words._ ”

Dooku flinched, remembering how outgoing and passionate Qui-Gon had been as a boy, and how with his own teachings, he tried to break him into being reserved.

Which Qui-Gon hadn’t been that type of Knight until after Xanatos…

“I never blamed you, though,” Obi-Wan said, “I believed you didn’t speak to me because I had yet to earn your respect, your trust. I was never anything like Xanatos, but nothing I ever did seemed good enough for you.”

“Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon interceded, “I doubt I could be anything but proud of you. You are wise and-”

Obi-Wan let out a bark of laughter and Qui-Gon flinched, “Yes, _wise_. That’s exactly what you said to me, but on the same day you denounced me before the entirety of the Council!”

Ahsoka sat up, her feet touching the grate, “He did what?”

Qui-Gon shook his head, “I would never-”

“But you did,” Obi-Wan interrupted, tone quietly furious, “ and it was the single most embarrassing moment of my life. You brought a boy before the Council who was nine years old, you were so sure of him. I’ve never seen you more certain of another person. Despite the fear in him, despite the anger he harbored and the pain and craving for adventure, you never doubted him. Another prodigy but for some reason, you never thought for an instant that he could turn out like Xanatos.”

Qui-Gon shook his, “No, I would not do that.”

“But you _did_ , for the sake of a prophecy and the Cosmic Force that you have mocked my entire apprenticeship, you staked all our lives on the actions of that boy and freed him from slavery, you took him from his mother and told him that he would be a Jedi.”

Dooku felt his brows rise, on this one, he agreed with Qui-Gon, that did not sound like something he would, would ever do.

“Yet, predictably, when you brought him before the Council, the Council disagreed and refused to teach him. You said then you would teach him.”

Dooku winced, Ahsoka took Rex’s hand.

Somehow, this story didn’t seem like one Obi-Wan had ever shared with them.

Qui-Gon took in a deep breath, “You were still my apprentice then.”

It was a statement.

“Yes!” Obi-Wan exclaimed, “We were partners, you and I. I had made peace with the shortcomings between us, I was _so proud_ of being your Padawan. I was twenty-five and knew the time was coming for my trials but you never discussed them with me. Yet, for a stranger, you were all so willing to toss me aside. 

"Wise? What bantha-shit. If I were wise, you would have spoken with me, you would have asked for my thoughts, you would have done me the honour of telling me I was ready for the trials rather than…” Obi-Wan took a breath, “rather than using it a convenient way to move on to your next prodigy. Force help me, I’ll never be able to unsee the look of pity Mace and Yoda gave me after your little proclamation.”

“Oh, Qui-Gon…” Tahl whispered.

Qui-Gon stood very still as he looked at Obi-Wan, Dooku was relieved that he couldn’t see his expression.

“I betrayed you, Obi-Wan, I have no words that could undo the wrong done to you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Obi-Wan said, “because in turn I failed you in every imaginable way.”

“No, Master,” Ahsoka spoke, standing, “no, you didn’t. You are one of the best Jedi in the Order.”

Obi-Wan shook his head, “But I wasn’t who Qui-Gon raised me to be.”

Tahl laughed, though there was little humour to her voice as she said, “You mean you weren't thick headed and obstinate; hardly faults, Obi-Wan.”

Qui-Gon stepped forward, “Obi-Wan, I never wanted you to be me. You are an individual, you are-”

“I was your apprentice,” Obi-Wan retorted, “And with your dying breath, you charged me with Anakin, and that boy needed you. But instead, he got me, and I was your opposite.”

Dooku frowned, “Wait, Qui-Gon humiliated you in front of the Council, was murdered by a Sith, who you were knighted for defeating, and you took a nine-year-old Padawan unaffiliated with the Order as your first apprentice after that trauma?”

“Because I asked you to?” Qui-Gon asked softly, his voice full of remorse.

“Do not pity me, Master,” Obi-Wan retorted, “I did my absolute best, but I did it my way, not yours, and in doing so, I failed. Anakin knew you for all of a week and yet he understood you better than I ever did. He saw through me, knew the teachings I passed along were not what they should have been.”

Dooku interceded then, the depth of this man’s self-loathing truly disturbing. These were the types of doubts that crippled a person, “It is not a Padawan’s place to fault you for not being your Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You did nothing wrong, your apprentice was cruel-”

“It was not his fault,” Obi-Wan said, “he was a child, and I was not who or what he needed to successfully transition from slavery to the Path of a Jedi.” He turned his attention on Qui-Gon, “It was your fault for thinking he would, but then it was my fault for letting you die. It was my fault you weren’t there for him.”

Dooku closed his eyes, sorrow sweeping over him. Why was it always the following generations who suffered so much for the failures of the Masters?

“ _No,_ ” Qui-Gon said, his voice deep and strong and sure, “Obi-Wan you must not blame yourself for-”

“Not listening to you?” Obi-Wan asked, “You think my mistakes start and end there? The woman I loved died by Maul’s hand because I failed to kill him. I was complicit in the Order and the Republic buying an army whose circumstances were akin to slavery. I watched,” he gestured to Ahsoka, “as my grandpadawan was put on trial for a crime I _knew_ she didn’t commit and didn’t do for her what I would have done for Anakin. Because in the end, Master, you were right, and I dishonoured you and your teachings, over and over again, trying to achieve some ideal of perfection by following an outdated Code that is as faulty as the Jedi themselves have become.”

“Obi-Wan-” 

“I sided with the Council over my own judgement!” Obi-Wan exclaimed, “Except when it came to Anakin, I sided with them on everything, over my own self-respect, over right from wrong, over the Force, over the truth laid out before my eyes time and time again. A Council member,” he said derisively, “I became a Knight because of an act of vengeance, I gained a Padawan because of your death, I became a _Council Member_ because I was better at politics and war than anyone else in the Order!”

There was a silence at that.

“In some ways,” Obi-Wan said casually, “I epitomize Dooku’s teachings more than yours, but I never had the balls to tell Yoda he was blind to the suffering of the galaxy.”

Dooku did not take that as a compliment, because he understood that being skilled at war and politics, though fair skills, were not what the Jedi upheld as ideals of virtue.

And as Dooku had literally betrayed the Order and his people by becoming a Sith, he could not imagine the depth at which Obi-Wan had fallen within his own idea of self-worth.

“The only thing,” Obi-Wan said into the silence that followed, “that I rightfully earned was the rank of Master for perfecting Soresu so well that even Mace couldn’t get the better of me. I became _the_ Master of Soresu of our time.” He held out his hands, and Dooku had to blink back the image of the man to see the teenager, “I don’t even have that anymore.”

Which explained Obi-Wan’s rage during practice, if he put his identity into Soresu, if that was the one thing he could fall back on without any inkling of shame or regret, then…

Then losing that must have been tortuous. 

“That is not all you earned,” Rex said, “General Kenobi, you undervalue your self-worth.”

“Do you truly believe that, Captain?” Obi-Wan returned.

Rex smiled at him sadly, “I do.”

Ahsoka shook her head, “Honestly, Master Kenobi, I never understood why you didn’t speak up for me at my trial, but now I do.”

Obi-Wan raised his brow, “Do you?”

Ahsoka nodded, and crossed the space to take his hands, unlike from Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan did not pull back from her.

She squeezed his hands, “No matter what anyone says, no matter what you achieve, you always doubt yourself, because the two people you trusted most and loved most in the world made you feel unworthy. Master Qui-Gon is bad at expressing himself and completely tackless,” Tahl made a sound at that, “and Anakin took out all his own fears and anger out on you too. You didn’t stand up for me not because you didn’t believe in me but because you didn’t believe in yourself.”

Obi-Wan swallowed, “Ahsoka…”

She shook her head, “But as your grandpadawan, as someone who has admired you always, I forgive you. I still believe and trust you. I know I can rely on you and that you would never willingly let me fall again.”

Obi-Wan pulled her into a hug, “I am so sorry, Ahsoka.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, “I forgive you, Master Kenobi. We are going to be alright.”

Qui-Gon stepped back from them and both Dooku and Tahl reached out steadying hands to him.

It was very likely that Obi-Wan would have forgiven Qui-Gon just then if asserted himself in that moment, but Dooku could read in the Force what Qui-Gon had clearly already deduced.

There were no words that could fix what had broken between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. And truly, this wasn’t even the same Qui-Gon who had failed Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan might never equate this past version of his Master who had died before him.

Ahsoka could forgive, because she was real to him in ways that they were not.

Dooku had to wonder about the further implications of time travel that they had barely scratched the surface of.

They were familiar places, familiar faces, but foreigners all the same, displaced from time and unarched in reality that would ever be an echo of past nightmares.

Dooku wondered at what point that would no longer be true, at what point he and Qui-Gon could prove to their Padawans, to the two Mandalorians who stood as protectors and family, that they would not fail them with this second chance to be better than they might have otherwise been.

* * *

AN: Thoughts, feedback, desired scenarios, or goldfinches? 


	13. Truce

Harry Potter: Anyone missing my Harry Potter stuff I posted a new fic that is not a time travel set further future than  _ What We Lost _ and Luna is currently in Shire where she will be joined by Harry for the Trilogy books. The first part that is a novella will finish in four more chapters :D

Beta: Thank you, Nauze!!!

Chapter 13 - Truce

Ahsoka wasn’t sure what to expect as they tracked on a lower speeder toward the True Mandalorian base.

Ahsoka was kind of pleased with how disturbed the other Jedi, aside from her Master Dooku, were by her and Obi-Wan’s ability to kill.

She knew she shouldn’t be overly pleased with herself for killing… but well, she was good at it. She was also starting to understand why Obi-Wan had pushed her toward Dooku as her new Master.

Dooku was far more reliable than Anakin, he was a constant, and his temper was tightly controlled, unlike Anakin who sometimes lashed out with little cause.

Dooku, and though she didn’t want to admit,  _ had _ been earning her trust through his patience. No matter what she said or how she acted, he stayed polite and attempted to teach her.

If she hadn’t known that he would become, she might have trusted absolutely.

Obi-Wan would have let her run herself into the ground with the kind of attitude and scorn she had been directing at Dooku, and Anakin would have been done with her or kicked her ass.

But Dooku remained grateful for the break of the standard Jedi routine. Today, allowing him to battle with Tor Vizsla, Ahsoka had to admit how much she had to learn. She could have killed Vizsla, but she couldn’t have beaten him that quickly without lethal force.

What had made Dooku an extraordinary Sith made him an exceptional Jedi. Obi-Wan was right when he had said he had taken more after Dooku than Qui-Gon.

Both Obi-Wan and Dooku could play with their opponents and get into their heads because of skill, endurance, and cunning.

This wasn’t to say Anakin or Qui-Gon weren’t intelligent, but Master Dooku and Obi-Wan seemed practically invincible.

She respected Dooku more now that she saw his ability to kill came from a Mastery of withholding from killing his opponents.

She knew she was a proud line of Jedi, starting with Master Yoda, through Dooku, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and then her, but she was finally seeing why this line had a bit more arrogance than most others within the Order.

The Jedi Knights were the Elites, and everyone in this line was the elite of the elites.

No wonder Obi-Wan always held himself to such impossible standards. She was finding that her own bar she wanted to reach, that the kind of Jedi Master she wanted to be was one who could be respected both for her connection to the Force and her mastery within the field against all odds.

When they approached the True Mandalorian, they disembarked, their feet crunching the snow.

“What are the numbers again?” Tahl asked.

“Three hundred, I believe,” Obi-Wan said.

“We’ve faced worse odds,” Rex remarked as they came to a stop in front of the base.

Sifo-Dyas sighed heavily, “So I’m guessing we didn’t destroy all of Death Watch then.”

“That we don’t know,” Obi-Wan said, “as far as I can remember, Death Watch was a tiny radical group. It wasn’t until after the Battle of Galidraan that the movement was given real wings.”

“Then let’s hope we receive a warmer welcome.”

“No snipers yet,” Obi-Wan said with a smirk.

“Should I knock?” Rex asked.

“Go for it,” Obi-Wan answered.

Rex pulled a blaster and shot at the snowbank that fell over the entrance of an unassuming metal service entrance. Ahsoka smiled as the other Jedi startled.

“I thought the idea was not to pull any weapons,” Sifo-Dyas said, hand on his sabre.

“Not pulling some weapons would be an insult,” Rex said as the door opened and a hundred Mandalorains poured out, the first fifteen nearly tripping over the snowbank dropped in front of their route.

“Your armour is the insult,” a mando in blue and red armour said.

_ “Greetings, True Mandalorians,” _ Obi-Wan said in this place's dialect which was the same as the clones.

The mandos all had their weapons pointed and they went back to back in outwards circles. The only good thing about being surrounded like this was that if they shot and missed them, they were very likely to shoot their own.

The head Mandalorain seemed to recognize this as he signalled his people to take a wider stance.

_ “How do you know our language, Child Jetii? _ ” the leader, marked by his cape and his stepping ahead of everyone else, asked.

Jango Fett stood not far behind.

Even Ahsoka was worried something had happened to Cody at this point, had he been captured?

“He is my foundling,” Rex said. “Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Togruta is my daughter, Ahsoka Tano, is my foundling as well.”

“Then why do they have Jedi lightsabres and why are you wearing the Jedi insignia?” the Mandalorian asked having switched to Basic.

“Because it was the deal my brother and I made with the Jedi Order, that we be allowed to raise our foundlings despite their training as Jedi and we would work for the Order. Whatever the history between Mandalore and the Jedi are, the Jedi is not an inherently evil force in the galaxy.”

There was a long silence, then he asked, “They are being trained and taught our language.  _ Is that true, girl?” _

__ _ “This is the truth, Rex, Cody, and my brother, Obi-Wan, are my closest family and have kept me alive through many a threat. _ ”

The Mandalorian seemed agitated, “One more test then.”

He unhooked his rifle, and before anyone pulled sabres, he tossed it to Obi-Wan who caught it easily.

“ _ How good is your aim, foundling? _ ” the man asked, and made a signal. 

One of the other Mandos, pointed his arm toward the sky and shot out eight flare-explosives that would break in the atmosphere as they rose.

Obi-Wan, however, had the weapon clicked over and reprogramed for the short range, and with an impressive sounding click-snap-double-snap, he pointed the weapon and fired eight shots in quick succession. 

He hit every target dead on.

Ahsoka blinked.

Obi-Wan was such a badass.

The Mandalorian included his head as Obi-Wan tossed him back the rifle after turning the safety back on.

“That, I suspect, is not something they teach you at the Jedi Temple.”

It wasn’t, Ahsoka knew, but she also knew that Obi-Wan had been known since his actual teenage years to be one of the best shots in the Order.

Maverick that Master Qui-Gon Jinn was, he had told her once as he and Rex taught her how to use a long range rifle, had insisted on Obi-Wan learning how to use ‘primitive firearms.’

“Alright,” the man said, “I am Maas, what does the Jedi Order want with us? There are too few of you to be actually prepared for an attack.”

Ahsoka smothered her smile; if they only knew.

Qui-Gon threw down the unconscious body as Dooku did the same.

Dooku drawled, “The Senate directed us to destroy a terrorist group.”

“Only the governor seemed to have confused the True Mandalorians and Death Watch,” Ahsoka said, cocking her hip.

The Mandalorians around them froze.

Maas asked, “You killed Tor and Pre Vizsla?”

“Oh, no,” Obi-Wan said, “these two are still alive, but we killed everyone else, including the governor.”

“You're welcome,” Rex said, deadpan.

Maas took off his helmet, he was an older man with grey hair and dark eyes. “

“There were twenty-two highly dangerous and homicidal warriors, zealots.

“Oh good,” Ahsoka quipped, “we met them all then.”

“What?” Maas asked.

“Now there are just two,” Dooku informed them.

“What?” Maas repeated.

“We killed them,” Obi-Wan said, “it really wasn’t that difficult.”

“ _ Not that difficult? _ ” someone in the crowd repeated.

“Who downed Tor Vizsla?” Maas asked, shaking his head as if he still doubted them.

“Master Dooku defeated him,” Ahsoka said, “But Rex stunned him.”

“Then Rex,” Maas inclined his head toward her Captain and friend, “are the true owner of the Dark Sabre.”

Ahsoka had a moment to wonder why a lightsabre was even that important to any of the Mandalorians but Rex dismissed the issue altogether.

“That’s not why we are here,” Rex said, “We want there to be no misunderstandings between the Jedi Order and Mandalore. We arrived at the Senate’s request because of an invitation granted by an official in Mandalore. But we, the Jedi, will not be used as weapons for internal politics. Death Watch attacked us, so we killed them. We give their leaders to you to be tried as criminals because you understand more of what is going on here than we do.”

“If this was your mission,” Maas said, “Then you are successful, and you have our gratitude for the lives you spared today in needless bloodshed.”

There were some grumbles, but the mandos all lowered their weapons.

They were safe and out of the woods.

But where was Cody?

Only for a white clone-armoured man to come running into the circle, only with jagged lines being scrapped haphazardly through the wings of Jedi insignia across his chest.

For a moment, Ahsoka thought someone else had time travelled with them through the past when the anger on the shiny’s face translated for her.

She turned to the man she had first assumed to be Jango Fett. No wonder Obi-Wan had relaxed a bit when they had been surrounded.

The Mandalorian behind Maas gave a familiar hand greeting.

Ahsoka grinned.

* * *

Cody watched in amusement as Jango Fett came stumbling into the circle of his peers.

It was a convenient thing that Mandalorians often had quiet brooding moments, because it made infiltrating them easy. Especially in the moments he had needed to speak, he had the same voice and accent as his sire.

Maas after seeing Jango’s face spun and pulled his weapon on Cody, as did the others surrounding him.

Rex laughed, “By the stars, he looks like a shiny.”

Jango snarled at him, “What does that even mean?”

Obi-Wan shook his head, “He killed five Jedi at this age with his bare hands.”

Jango froze, glanced at the Jedi present, “No, I haven’t.”

“Who are you?” Maas demanded.

Cody took off his helmet, “Cody, brother of Rex, father of Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I tried having a conversation with your Fett and he took issue with my armour. So I took his.”

Maas frowned at him, squinting at him, “You sound like Fett, you even look like him. If older and a bit scarred.”

Weapons began to lower as Maas’s did.

Rex was looking between Jango and Cody in Jango’s armour, “Wait? You beat him in a fight?”

“Hand to hand,” Cody said with a smirk.

Rex took off his helmet too and whistled, “Nice.”

The crowd did a double take.

Jango Fett got angry, well, angrier than he already was having been choked out and forced to wear inferior armour, “Who the hell are you?” 

“Your handmaidens,” Ahsoka jested.

Obi-Wan started laughing.

Cody rolled his eyes.

“ _ Who are you _ ?” Jango demanded, their similarities too much to overlook.

“Relatives,” Cody answered, stepping forward to join his own people, going shoulder to shoulder with Rex to face off against the man who had signed off on their creation then left them after giving them a taste of personhood and culture.

“You’re older than me,” Jango said, “Where the hell were you when our parents died?”

Cody and Rex exchanged a look, and Rex said, “We were sold as slaves and mercenaries on Kaminoes. The only father we knew abandoned us and we knew of no other family.”

Cody bowed his head, they didn’t see themselves like that, they didn’t  _ want  _ to see themselves that way.

But there was a reason why Rex and he had decided on his brothers’ behalf that it was better to not have been born than to die for a Republic that didn’t even quantify them as human.

Obi-Wan took Cody’s hand, and Cody wrapped his fingers around that comforting hand.

This man who had been meant to be his superior who had become one of the dearest people to him.

Jango’s expression fell, “Oh. But why did you join the Jedi?”

“As we already explained to your comrades,” Rex said, “two of our foundlings joined the Jedi Order and we made a deal with them to not be parted from our family.”

Jango bowed his head, “I understand.” He glared at Cody, “But I want my armour back.”

“No,” Maas said, stepping in, “You lost a fight with him, and dishonoured yourself by being unwilling to speak with kin. He can keep your armour, and they can have the Beskar from the Vizslas.” Maas met Rex and Cody’s gaze, basically ignoring the Jedi as hard as they could. “You all may stay with us for the night, and we will forge your armour to fit you in size and style.”

Someone shouted, “You can’t mean to forge a Jedi insignia out of Beskar!?”

“Shut up, Myles,” Jango called.

Maas inclined, his head once more, “I do, and it will be the debt we settle between us.”

Cody shook his head, “No, it is what we are owed. You and yours will still have to respect the truce between yourselves and the Jedi until the Jedi cross a line. Dishonour upon you if you attempt otherwise.”

Maas sighed, “I suppose.”

Cody rolled his eyes, Mandalorians could be quite ridiculous at times.

* * *

Obi-Wan had to admire the Mandalorians' work as they set course back to Coruscant.

Their armour was no longer white, but clean steel with white wings and the star of the Jedi insignia on their breast plates. On their arms, the same symbol but in its traditional circle as Obi-Wan had worn on his own armour. The accents of colour on the Commander and Marshall Commander were blue and orange respectively. Their helmets were mostly the same but a bit more streamlined and in the steel colouring. Only Rex’s helmet had white markings on it.

Ones that matched Ahsoka’s.

Ahsoka had been delighted and honoured, going over every new bit of weaponry and design quality of Rex’s new weapons and armour.

It had taken Obi-Wan a bit to realize that the slash tiny stripes across Cody’s helmet were an ode to the scars that crossed over Obi-Wan’s heart.

He hadn’t known what to say to Cody about that yet, and in front of the entire group was not the place, nor, he knew, would Cody want it discussed here.

"So being in your thirteen year old body…" Qui-Gon began.

Obi-Wan sighed, "I hate it."

"He's very hormonal," Rex said blandly.

Ahsoka snorted and Obi-Wan gave Rex a look that would make a saner man pause.

But Rex had fought a war with Anakin.

Cody cocked his head, "So they know?"

"Obi-Wan yelled at Qui-Gon in a long speech,” Ahsoka explained.

"Oh, good, I was getting sick of dropping hints," Cody said.

Qui-Gon leaned back, "Your training… what do you need from me really?"

Obi-Wan sighed and met Qui-Gon's gaze, "I need to you help me build up my muscle memory and pick out even the slightest mistake."

Qui-Gon nodded but asked, "But what do you need from me specifically, Master Kenobi?"

Obi-Wan seemed to startle at hearing Qui-Gon address him as such. "What do you mean? I've already graduated, Qui-Gon."

"Perhaps but you seem to not believe you deserved to be raised to Knight. Why?"

"Because I did it through revenge."

Qui-Gon eyed him, "Obi-Wan, you have killed people before. And it seems as if you regret not  _ actually _ killing Maul, not for taking revenge. What is it that has truly troubled you through the years. What did I neglect in your apprenticeship that makes you feel as if you weren’t deserving of Knighthood?”

Obi-Wan looked away from him, “I was lacking.”

“How?” Qui-Gon pressed, “Because regardless of what I said or do not say,  _ you _ should have known when you were ready. What did I do that put such self doubt in your heart?”

Obi-Wan stared back at him for a long moment, “I knew I was a Jedi Knight. I did everything the Council expected or wished from me. By every measure that anyone could voice, I was never lacking. And yet, I never felt as if I understood what you had been trying to teach me. Through my own apprentice, I was shown again and again that the Order’s standards were failing. Anakin was a great Knight and a great warrior but I was unable to truly lead him closer to an understanding of the Force.”

“How could he have advanced to Knighthood without an understanding of the theoretical? You must have been able to teach him something.”

“I’m sure I taught him some things, but…” Obi-Wan shook his head, “Because Anakin was not raised within the Order, I have always felt as if my understandings are inherently flawed. I mean if I can’t explain myself well enough to someone who can feel the Force as well as we do, regardless of background, then I don’t know it well enough.

“It was as if I were teaching someone how to cook, and I could instruct them to follow the recipes but was never quite able to teach him  _ why _ the flavours and tastes worked together.” Obi-Wan sighed, “Anakin had so much power that he could just brute-force his way through anything he didn’t understand. Every time I tried to slow him down, to explain the little things to him, it just frustrated him and furthered the misunderstandings between us. It made me understand that less than dogmatic teachings you had tried to pass on to me would have made more sense to Anakin. But I was a broken link, he couldn’t understand my meanings and I couldn’t explain what I truly never understood from you.”

Qui-Gon nodded, “Xanatos was similar to your Anakin, more instinctual, needing more examples than verbal explanation. I am sorry, Obi-Wan, that I ever feared Xanatos’s faults would be your own and for expecting you to learn in the same ways he did.”

_ Showing and not telling _ , Obi-Wan scowled, “How did you keep it from being a competition?” Remembering how trying to keep up with his Master had been so frustrating and how with Anakin whenever he tried doing that it resulted in Anakin trying to show him up, completely missing the point of the exercises.

“What?” Qui-Gon asked.

“If you were always showing rather than explaining, how did you keep it from becoming a competition between you and Xanatos?”

“He didn’t,” Dooku said, “It’s why he fell.”

Qui-Gon bowed his head.

Tahl patted his knee, “To be fair to you, Obi-Wan, I believe your apprentice was closer to your age than Xanatos and Qui-Gon would have been. But Xanatos should never have been trained. He was too powerful and didn’t have enough compassion for others.”

Obi-Wan shook his head, “That was never Anakin’s problem, if anything, he was too compassionate. He cared too deeply about people and couldn’t let things go.”

Qui-Gon stroked his beard, “It would have been a rather large mistake of mine to tell him he was meant to be the Chosen One. That is too much pressure for anyone, yourself included, Obi-Wan.”

Tahl nodded, “Perhaps he would have made a rather good creche Master, however.”

Obi-Wan blinked at her, “Anakin never wanted anything to do with the younger students.”

“Certainly,” Qui-Gon said, “to be among them but not having been one of them. But being one of the creche Masters would have been an entirely different role. For centuries, many of our most powerful Masters have been assigned to the creches. Sometimes, compassion can overwhelm us in the field, being protective to the point of possessiveness. Children need that in their guardians, they need to know they are loved and cared for. And in the cases of accidental uses of the Force, it is the creche Master’s duty to take the damage of those outbursts or to shield the younglings from Force visions. How soon did the war start before Anakin was Knighted?”

Obi-Wan stared at him, “He was knighted during the war.”

Qui-Gon nodded his head, “If your Anakin’s journey happened now, had he not been considered the Chosen One, he likely would have been assigned to many missions across the galaxy through his twenties. As he is human, it wouldn’t be until his thirties that he would be assigned with the Seekers. If he had then found to enjoy the company of children, he would have been taken under Yoda’s wing to serve the initiates and creches.”

“Why not during his twenties?” Ahsoka asked.

“Basic human psychology,” Tahl explained, “human males are most likely to commit crimes, to act out, and are prone to strong emotions in their twenties, such things don’t dictate the type of people they are, not fully. If such tendencies persiste past then, you may have a problem. But males in their twenties, even with Jedi teachings, tend not to be assigned any permanent details until their thirties.”

“Oh,” Ahsoka said, “Okay, yeah that makes a lot of sense actually.”

Obi-Wan sat back in his seat, “I don’t know why I didn’t think…”

“I do believe you had bigger problems in mind,” Dooku said.

Cody snorted, “I suppose you could call yourself that. You took Anakin’s arm off at the shoulder and instigated a civil war.”

Dooku winced, “I’m sorry.”

Cody stared at him, “The only reason I will accept that apology is because you haven’t done it yet and because I expect you never to do it.”

Dooku bowed to him.

Qui-Gon said, “Obi-Wan, however we continue, I wish you to know that I want only the best for you. I hope that you will give me the chance to learn how to explain the things I’ve come to believe and understand through the Force.”

Obi-Wan smiled, “I am a Jedi Knight, but I suppose it’s never too late to learn how to become a maverick.”

Ahsoka laughed, “The Council is going to hate us for an intensity.”

Sifo-Dyas shook his head, “It is my hope we can teach the Council a thing or two as well. I fear if we don’t the Order will not survive the future.”

That sobered everyone, and Obi-Wan wondered at how the actions of a few could shape the destiny of many.

* * *

“You requested to see me?” he asked as he came into the room. They had arrived back yesterday and Obi-Wan had collapsed that night and woken to the changes they had made in the future.

Wondered how much of the future they had already reshaped.

Tahl’s room was small but the window took up most of the wall, with her bed making up the sill. There was a single side table that had three shelves. One held snacks and tea, the other held her tea set and plates, and the final shelf held a collection of flimsies and holos. On top were an electric kettle and two waiting tea cups.

The refresher and the closest were the only other components of the space, there was no kitchen or seating.

Just a view that she could no longer see.

Tahl patted the bed beside her, “Come sit with me.”

He crossed the space and when he was settled she passed him a cup of tea.

“Thank you, Tahl,” he said, waiting for her to take her drink before he did.

“You are most welcome, Obi-Wan.”

They sat in silence that was peaceful and warm. He realized the benefits to having such a window did not end at the view, the sunlight soaked into his bones and he closed his eyes. Resting his shoulders back against the wall, he let himself relax.

He had missed Tahl.

Ahsoka reminded him of her sometimes, but no one else could  _ be _ Master Tahl.

She was warm and loving, and her beauty was one that had to be experienced to be believed.

He had forgotten what the Force could feel like this, that Light could be as soft as it was bright. That a person could burn so strongly and never scold.

“You let down your shields,” Tahl remarked.

He blinked his eyes open and began to straighten, but she reached out, finding his ankle.

Squeezing, she said, “Do not close back down, Obi-Wan, I will not harm you.”

“I know that,” he said, “I never doubted that.”

“You and I were close in your future.”

“Yes, though obviously, you spent much more time with Qui-Gon than with me.”

“Well, I would certainly hope so,” she said, her hand circling his ankle.

“What are you doing?” he asked as she tugged off his boot.

“I don’t want shoes on my bed,” she remarked.

“I can-”

“Drink your tea, Kenobi,” she chided as she found and removed the other boot. Tossing both at the door. “Do you think if someone else comes, they will trip on them?”

Obi-Wan almost snorted his tea, “How did you and Qui-Gon even come to be together? He’s always so serious.”

“He wasn’t always like that,” she said, picking back up her tea cup. “You know we were in the same creche together. We were friends, but in truth, we were more rivals. That competitiveness had us at each other’s throats more often than not.” She smirked, “Qui-Gon was jealous of me, he could win against me with a sabre but with everything else-” her smile was gleeful, “well, I was never second best.”

Obi-Wan smiled into his tea cup, these weren’t the sort of questions he could have asked when he was younger. The sort of questions that he had wanted to tease Anakin about with Padme but Anakin kept his private matters close after graduating to Knight, and as Obi-Wan was no longer directly his Master, he had not infringed on his privacy.

Though at times, Anakin had made it almost painfully hard not to tease him.

“So you seduced him,” he inferred.

Tahl laughed, “I have always had Qui-Gon Jinn wrapped around my finger.”

Obi-Wan laughed too, “I don’t doubt it. He was miserable to live with after you died.”

He instantly regretted his words when the joy drained from her face.

“Master Tahl, I-”

“I am so sorry for your loss, Obi-Wan.”

He blinked, opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again to say, “That’s not how most people react to their own death.”

She shrugged, “I highly doubt it will happen again in the same manner. Besides, everyone dies eventually, it is the way of things.”

He shook his head, “How do you make everything so easy?”

She smirked, her green gold-flecked eyes dazzling in the afternoon sunlight, “You’re just used to dealing with difficult people. Qui-Gon is a stubborn old goat and Ahsoka certainly seems like a handful.”

Obi-Wan huffed a laugh, “You should meet her Master. Ahsoka is merely spirited and energetic.”

Tahl laughed, “Oh, my poor Obi-Wan, who were your friends? Tell me you had others to balance them out.”

“When I was younger, I had many friends. But after taking Anakin as an apprentice… things changed. Most of my peers were still Padawans themselves or so newly Knighted that they weren’t often present at the Temple. Mace joined me most often for meditations. I think he missed Qui-Gon and saw in me both a remnant and counterweight. I was also about the only person who was willing to discuss the movements of the Senate with him. Despite what Anakin, Ahsoka, and my Master think, the Council disagrees with the Senate more often than not.”

“Then why obey them?”

Obi-Wan was silent for a long moment, “It was a careful dance, but looking back… by the time of the civil war started, the Senate had too much leverage on the Order. They could have destroyed our reputation, the safety of our people, our freedoms, and status throughout the galaxy with just a word. If we said no, there were always repercussions. Cultivating a friendship with the Chancellor became the surest way of getting our voices, even partially, heard by the Senate.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“No,” he said, “but the Jedi are elites, and we are small, despite the role we play, despite our education, I don’t know that our voices should be that much louder. And I think it is dangerous to give the Jedi more power than we have. Our history isn’t clean, and what I saw from some of our Masters, from my own Padawan…” he closed his eyes, “it is a pretty tale to think that having power can solve everything, but the Jedi are no less likely to make mistakes than those without a direct connection to it. I am also not convinced the Force cares about politics.”

Tahl stretched out her legs, crossing her socked-feet over his. It was such a small and silly touch that he smiled.

“What do you think the Force cares about?” she asked.

He looked out the window at the traffic, “I met three embodiments of the Force, three beings that might have been gods in place where the Force converged, and do you want to know what I learned?”

“Yes, I do.”

“That the Force will hurt if it is hurting and that the Force will heal when it is healed, that the balance between the two is not dictated by love or hatred but by boredom and eventuality. Life and death are normal, sorrow and chaos, joy and hope are also normal, but stagnation? Anything that refuses to move, to grow, is in the process of decay and will be swept away. 

“When I was little, Yoda used to tell us there was no such thing as trying, that there was acting and failing, but there are no absolutes. You can’t destroy the Light or the Dark, you can only  _ try _ to keep moving forward.”

Tahl stared at him with unseeing eyes, but nevertheless, he felt as if she could see everything about him.

“You truly are one of the finest Jedi Masters this Temple has ever raised, aren’t you?”

He flushed, “I don’t thi-”

“Tell me what you look like,” she interrupted.

“What? I mean don’t you rem-”

“I can hear your voice, Obi-Wan, but you do not use the same words nor speak with the same surety or weight as the youngling I remember. I will never see the man you grow up to be, though this time around, I hope to be here for you always. So, tell me how I am meant to see you.”

He took in a long breath, then leant forward to tap her knee. She held out her hand and he placed his finished cup in her hand.

Leaning back as she returned the cup on the side table beside her own empty cup, he said, “I have a beard. Not like Qui-Gon’s, mine was fuller and kept it closer to my face. I grew it out because I thought it made me look older, being the Master of the Chosen One, eyes were always on me.”

“I’m sure you were very handsome.”

He chuckled, “Siri liked it but the woman who won my heart, she wasn’t a fan. She didn’t like that it covered my face.”

Tahl laughed, “Why am I not surprised you became a ladies’ man?”

“Well, I had to prove I was Qui-Gon’s lineage somehow. Not that it worked out, Siri and Satine both died in my arms.”

“Obi-Wan…”

“It is strange to see them now, to know they are alive and love them still but not…”

“They are children.”

“And I am not.”

“You will fall in love again.”

He sighed, “I really hope that I do not.”

“You are very comfortable around Cody,” she observed.

His brows rose, “Cody is my Commander, my right hand, I would never think of him that way, besides, he has claimed me as a son.”

“You do realize you can’t say that without jest in your tone?”

He shook his head, “Tahl, you do not know Cody. He is a man of honour, he was not joking when he claimed me and Ashoka as foundlings.”

“No, I do not think he was joking when he says he would give his life for you or that he cares ever so much about your well being.”

_ “Tahl,” _ he warned her.

“I mean, Rex certainly hasn’t pursued the position with such interest-”

_ “Tahl!” _ he exclaimed.

“You’re blushing aren’t you?”

“You are relentless, did you know that?”

She cackled, “A woman knows these things.”

“I’m pretty sure Cody wouldn’t find you half so funny.”

“Certainly not, you’re thirteen at the moment, a gangly thing with spiky hair, and beardless. But I bet your Mandalorian Commander has quite a few cherished memories of you giving commands in armour and-”

“Tell me, Master Tahl, does Master Jinn know you put a tracker in his ship and speeder, or-”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Say one more word about my Commander-”

“Oh,  _ your _ Commander, well if he’s  _ yours _ -”

“ _ Tahl. _ ”

“Obi-Wan, my darling, you may be a ladies man, but in garning the attentions of the armoured sex-”

“I will leave, if you want me to leave, all you had to do was ask.”

She laughed, the sound causing him to smile despite the blush.

He had never thought of Cody like that before, but with Tahl’s teasing came a few flashes, a few remembered moments that he didn’t want to dwell on.

His life was complicated enough without bringing any other element into it.

“How tall were you?” she asked.

“I wasn’t short, I am a perfectly average height, thank you very much. I just never reached giant-status as Qui-Gon and Anakin managed.”

She grinned at him mischievously, “So, shorter than Cody.”

“Tahl, I swear to all the stars that burn-”

She patted his foot, “We’ll come back to that subject another day then, shall we?”

“You can’t see me rolling my eyes, but I want you to know that I am.”

She cackled again, “You’re just bitter that you have to go through that time in a boy’s life again and you-”

“I’m going to kick your ass next time we spar, just so you’re prepared.”

“Says the man who forgot Soresu.”

His expression hardened, “I didn’t forget. I taught it to myself after Qui-Gon died, I can relearn even in this inferior form.”

“Yet you blame yourself for this situation.”

“It isn’t my fault-”

“I agree.”

His mouth snapped shut, and he knew what was coming, and in attempt to forestall it, “Master Tahl-”

“You cripple yourself, Master Kenobi. The weight of the galaxy isn’t yours to bear.”

“Easy for you to say, your Padawan wasn’t the Chosen One.”

“Who was Anakin Skywalker to you?”

“My brother,” he said at once, "he was my best friend."

"And yet?" she prompted.

“I wasn't enough. I wasn't what he needed.”

“And was he what you needed?” she asked.

“What?” he asked, her words not making sense.

“Was a Padawan what you needed?”

“It doesn't matter what I needed, I wasn't a child.”

“Weren't you? Were you ready to be a Master? Were you so unimportant that your own well being and happiness were so trivial?”

“I wasn't unhappy to be Anakin’s Master.”

“You were grieving your own Master, who was there for you back then?”

“I had-”

“Members on the Council?” she asked. “Mace is a very busy man. When you were in his company, did you speak of yourself or your Padawan or politics?”

“Tahl, you don't understand, Anakin needed-”

“What did you need?”

At her rapidfire questioning, poking at things he didn't want poked at, he snapped, "What does it matter what I needed? Anakin was a slave, he was lost and thrown into a world he didn’t understand and I-"

"So, because he suffered more than you, in your estimation, he was more deserving of happiness and care than you?"

He gaped at her, "What- what kind of question is that? He was a child, Tahl, a child and I fell short-"

"Because you had no one to lift you up."

"I had the other Jedi, I had the Force, I have always had enough."

"Yet you find yourself lacking."

"I _ am _ lacking."

She tsked, "Obi-Wan, am I undeserving of love? Is my blindness punishment for loving a man rather devoting all my time to the Force?"

"No, of course not."

"But surely there were people on Melida/Daan I could have helped if I had been a better Jedi Knight-"

"No," he protested.

"But you just said people who suffer more deserve more-"

"That's not what-"

"Obi-Wan, you are as deserving of happiness as Anakin and Ahsoka are.”

“But they are my responsibility.” 

“And were you not Qui-Gon’s? Do you really believe age lessens pain? That losing a loved one hurts less as an adult than does for a child?”

“But Anakin-”

"Was adopted by the Order, his needs were not meant to be filled by a single man. The Jedi are a community and if we failed him, that is not your fault.”

His shoulders slumped, “They didn't want him.”

“But they wanted you, and through you, they should have supported you both.” 

She held out her hand and he took it. She pulled him forward and he went to her. She tucked him in against her side and kissed his head, he hugged and whispered a truth he had long shrunk away from, "You were the closest thing I ever had to a mother.”

She rested her cheek against his head, "I am honoured to have been loved by you, Obi-Wan."

He closed his eyes, "Why do I lose everyone I have ever loved?”

She didn't hesitate, “Because you have yet to learn to love yourself, and until you do, nowhere will ever feel like home. You will always feel lost.”

Tahl’s words hit him harder than expected.

Perhaps it was true that he had never had a home, that even amongst his people and within his Temple he had made himself an outcast. Maybe he had never trusted himself enough to embrace the happiness gifted to him… it struck something inside long buried and long ignored.

That maybe he loved his doubts more than he loved himself.

* * *

AN: Feedback, musings, puppies, or thoughts?


	14. Tide

KEYnote: I am  **not pairing** a young teenaged bodied anyone with a twenty-year-old. So to those who are flipping out, quit it. And as someone who is gay, I have issues with how most fanfic writings do slash; either outrageous smut or so much fluff/whateverthekriff that it breaks the character. If I ever write a non-hetero pairing, not just Tahl teasing Obi-Wan, it won't be the stereotype of gay porn because no, I have higher standards for my own writing.

I’d appreciate y’all giving me the benefit of the doubt that if I ever went that direction, it would be with taste and respect with the characters, i.e. I’m never going to write a straight character who is abhorred by the opposite sex and so angsty and horny, etc.

In sum, Obi-Wan is too disciplined to have that type of cringy relationship (that I consider just as bad in its hetero-form) and the only ones getting hot and bothered on-screen are Tahl and Qui-Gon.

Furthermore, Ahsoka has no pairing in this fic.

Chapter 14 - Turning the Tide

Months had passed, and Obi-Wan was happy to have finally found some rhythm with his body.

Qui-Gon had been true to his word and had treated Obi-Wan not as a Padawan but as an equal.

It was as new to Obi-Wan as it was to his Master. In all reality, this Qui-Gon hadn’t known him long, and after spilling his guts, Obi-Wan had been able to let go of his anger toward this Qui-Gon.

This version of Qui-Gon had never failed Obi-Wan. Of course, Obi-Wan had begun seeing the other major changes in his Master. For one, his relationship with Tahl, especially being more open in front of others, was further along than Obi-Wan had remembered them being, they were more than lovers and close friends.

They were a couple.

Also, Dooku’s presence, as well as his visible attempts to be better than he was, had brought something out of Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon was not strictly a solitary man by nature, more a protector of his own methods, belief, and power within the Force.

Obi-Wan had only seen glimpses of the outgoing and quick to laugh man that Qui-Gon might have been, the one that Tahl said he had once been, in Obi-Wan’s own apprenticeship.

But freed from the fear that he might somehow push or mislead Obi-Wan to the Dark Side, Qui-Gon was… somewhat delightful.

“I’m not certain,” Qui-Gon mused, “this was an entirely advisable plan.”

Obi-Wan shrugged, well, as much as one can shrug with their arms spread and cuffed upward, “Cody and Rex went off on their own, I couldn’t not get in trouble.”

Tahl laughed, and wiggled her fingers, “I’ve seen worse plans.”

Ona Nobis glowered at all of them, “We are going to kill you.”

“Terrifying,” Obi-Wan told the bounty hunter blandly.

The three of them had gotten themselves strategically kidnapped. Obi-Wan remembered the events surrounding his fourteenth birthday well but he also remembered Ona Nobis, one of the deadliest bounty hunters slipping free a load of times, and he couldn’t quite recall the reports Qui-Gon had given them.

Ona hissed at him, snapping her whip on the ground.

Qui-Gon smirked at her, “Truly, I understand how annoying teenagers can be, but I would be remiss not to inform you how easy you are to bait.”

Ona snarled at him, “We are going to drain you of blood and experiment on your corpses until there is nothing left.”

Which is why they were here, Obi-Wan was worried that the Sith had been experimenting on Force users over the centuries without the Jedi being the wiser. He wasn’t quite sure if it tied back to Anakin or not, but he had been getting flashes of visions lately, and he was having a hard time believing that Kamino was the only place the Sith were meddling.

It was something that only in the last few months before their unexpected displacement had the Council really begun to begin to worry about.

The Sith were known for pushing the limits of the scientific aspect of the Force, from messing with Kyber crystals to experimenting on Jedi. Force sensitives outside of the Order had a funny way of disappearing.

Obi-Wan hadn’t had much time to reflect until this last year.

If the Jedi Order wasn’t the only Force sensitive military sect, then the possibilities for darker fates for those born with sensitivity were all too possible.

It was something that Obi-Wan had confided with the others, and Sifo-Dyas had insisted they follow every lead.

Which is why they were playing bait now, the only thing to give them away was their bravado and the fact that they had left their lightsabres for Dooku and Ahsoka to find.

If the worst happened, these crazies wouldn’t have their weapons to use against them.

Tahl yawned, “I’m sorry, what did you just say, I’m afraid we’ve been hanging here so long that my will to not be bored is fading.”

Qui-Gon gave her a sympathetic look for the bounty hunter’s benefit, “They just don’t make criminals like they used to, I’m afraid.”

Obi-Wan bit back a laugh, had Qui-Gon always been like this? Had he always been this light under his gravitas?

Perhaps he had, and perhaps it was one of the reasons Anakin had always judged Obi-Wan so.

As an adult, it was much easier to spot the insecurities and moments of pride in Qui-Gon’s demeanour than it had been as a young adult.

Ona ran a hand over her bald head, her face contorting in rage, “I’ll start with the child and we will see if you are laughing then.”

Obi-Wan felt Qui-Gon tense at that, the mirth bleeding from his dark blue eyes.

They might have planned this but it was still dangerous; Ona hunted Jedi, and this scientist, the man hunched in the corner poring over data, would harm them if they could.

Obi-Wan allowed the bond between him and his Master open wide, with their every intent and emotion bare, they focused on Ona Nobis.

This mental merging was not something he had ever managed with Qui-Gon in the past, or with Anakin later on.

It required trust, it required inner stability.

Stability that Obi-Wan found himself coming closer and closer to.

He was a Master Jedi, but since achieving that status, this was the first time in his life he was free to improve himself solely on a spiritual level.

He hadn’t appreciated how much of his own identity he had placed on Anakin’s success and tribulations. 

Obi-Wan had only one goal in his life now, making the galaxy a better place for the ones he loved and all who lived.

And despite the magnitude of this dedication, he no longer felt like it was all on him to succeed or fail at such an aspiration.

He was doing the best he could, and unlike with his Padawan, that was enough, because there were others to continue. The Jedi would not be blindsided by the Sith this time, and between Dooku and Ahsoka, he had faith that the Order would follow a different path.

Exhaling in time with each other, Obi-Wan caught Ona’s gaze, capturing her focus and intent within the Force as Qui-Gon manipulated it.

This was perhaps one of the scariest aspects of what a Jedi could do to a person, but as far as Obi-Wan was concerned, anyone trying to kill or torture other people for profit and mayhem had lost their rights for descent treatment.

The Bounty Hunter turned, her light whip flashing red as she spun struck out at the scientist, catching him around the neck and pulling him out of the chair.

He exclaimed but hit the ground so hard his head hit the ground with a crack.

Tahl levitated a metal toolbox and with frightening speed and precision struck the still dazed Ona in the head. 

She too clattered to the ground and did not get up.

“Well, that was easy,” Obi-Wan said.

Tahl tsked, “Really, then tell me, Little Obi-Wan, how do we get down?”

There was a long pause as he and Qui-Gon looked around for the control panel or anything they could use to break the cuffs specifically meant to hold Force sensitives and trained Jedi Knights.

“Wait for Dooku and Ahsoka?” Obi-Wan offered.

Tahl huffed, “How did you get out last time?”

“Siri Tachi and I handled Ona. You and Adi were also here to help get Qui-Gon out.”

“Is that when you fell in love with her?”

“You fell in love with Siri Tachi?” Qui-Gon asked, “I thought you didn’t like each other.”

“That,” Obi-Wan said to Tahl tersely, “was a long time ago. She thought I disgraced all the Padawans and made the Masters doubt them when I left the Order. She sort of forgave me after we saved each other a few times, it was a learning curve.”

“Then it is a shame she won’t have the same experiences this time around,” Qui-Gon said.

“She died in my arms, Master, I hope her life leads her down a better road.”

Qui-Gon was quiet for a beat, “Ahsoka has been improving in leaps and bounds.”

Obi-Wan smiled, “She’s certainly benefiting from the structure and discipline.”

“Even if she still occasionally wants to kill him,” Tahl quipped.

They laughed at that and their talk turned to gossiping about the council, and both Tahl and Qui-Gon delighting on the inside scoop that Obi-Wan could give them, especially since much of it was drama and incidents that not even the Council was aware of because it hadn’t happened yet.

* * *

Cody wasn’t sure about the Jedi they had brought along with them, but then again, they hadn’t really had a choice when they were caught with a tech-weapon that was every-single shade of illegal. Both in acquiring it, which meant bluffing their way into paying for the thing and then stealing it.

After the months it had taken to form this plan, it would have been hell to come up with a new one.

Also, they might have been surviving prison time.

The conversation with said Jedi had started with, “So, are you going to explain to me why two employees of the Jedi Temple are going to do it with a weapon that will cut all power and destroy every data storage unit across a small world?”

A conversation that had ended with, “So you’re clones… from the future?”

Cody was very surprised when the Jedi said he wouldn’t stop but join him and Rex on their mission.

Surprised right up to the moment he properly introduced himself as Jedi Shadow, Feemor, or Master Mor, once apprentice of Master Qui-Gon Jinn.

“So you two had a falling out?” Rex asked.

“Not exactly, it was as much my fault as his. My Master, shortly after his second apprentice, Xanatos fell to the Dark Side, was assigned a mission on Jedha. He met these ascetics, they called themselves the Whills, and my Master came back to the Jedi Temple with the intent of leaving the Order,” Feemor explained, running a hand through his long blonde hair, “It doesn’t really matter much what he said now, but I heard that he was denouncing everything to do with the Order, and I thought he meant me as well.”

“He’s really not good with words, is he?” Rex asked.

Feemor’s lips curved only a tad, “You could say that, but I’ve come to terms with what he said now. At the time, I had been offered a position to train as a Shadow and I took the opportunity, so I suppose it worked out in the end.”

“You haven't spoken with him since,” Cody deduced.

“No.”

“So you aren’t over it,” Rex stated.

Blue eyes glared at them both, “I don’t see how it is any of your business.”

“We just told you that we are going to preemptively kill our entire people and that we are time travels, I don’t see, as you are an apprentice of our General’s Master how it isn’t our business.”

Feemor sighed, “I came back this week with the intention of speaking to him. But I’m a Shadow, and as I was going through security checks, I found you.”

“You’re better than the Temple Guard,” Rex remarked idly.

Feemor snorted, “If it hadn’t been for me, the Guard would have never noticed you. Yet, even after hearing your story, I must ask you, are you sure you are doing the right thing? You will set your homeworld back a hundred years.”

“Fifty, more like,” Rex said, “and yes, we are sure. They bred us to die, to be as slaves, to fight in a farce of civil war.”

“We cannot let them be born into such a fate,” Cody said.

“You really think fifty years will make a difference?” Feemor asked.

“I think the people behind the payments aren’t going to wait fifty years.” Cody said, “They must have started planning it by now. If we can somehow track what the Banking clans do in response to the fall of Kamino, we might be able to get that much closer to finding the Sith.”

Feemor nodded, “Finding the Sith… It is heartbreaking to think in any reality they lived to do such terrible things.” He looked up at them, his expression dark, his eyes blazing with inner intent, “I will help you in all the ways I can.”

* * *

KEYnote: I am knowingly breaking from Legends/Canon here. Just look at Rex and the survivors as going white and gaining weight more from stress and grief ;)

* * *

Master Mor was pretty sure it was fate guiding his hands as he leant the side of the desk out of view of the long necks as his new companions called them.

As a Shadow, stealth and hunting the Sith was his primary function within the Order, he just never expected for the Sith to be living, intent on rending the galaxy with civil war. His training as a shadow had mostly been for finding objects, old histories, and even ancient Jedi artefacts as well. He was taught to be open to the idea that Sith could be alive.

But even he had been surprised when the rumour of a Sith Apprentice nearly killing Master Dooku and being allowed into the Order.

Time travel actually made much more sense than that.

The information he was slicing through. How the long necks had saved their species with the science and archives they were about to decimate. 

The two clones had found a box that would unleash a virus onto every piece of technology it touched and would lie dormant in anything it connected to.

It wasn’t impossible to stop, but it was incredibly fast moving. Within three hours, all of Kaminoans databanks would be toasted, and any of their moons or ships equality toast.

Mor was not surprised they had stolen and not bought it. 

But still, Mor wanted to investigate what he was destroying before he connected the damn thing.

Cody and Rex had known the places’ security and layout so well they hadn’t been spotted, and Mor, especially as a planet like this didn’t have a lot of security, not yet anyway.

Kamino wasn’t even a planet he had heard of before now.

But as he scanned through data files, Mor was beginning to agree with Rex and Cody.

Yes, much good could be done with this type of science, but the experiments? The terminations? Mor didn’t like to think about how many brothers Rex and Cody had lost before they were ever deployed to war. 

The Force was also dark and twisted, a stain, a scar, a place where life would come only to be subjected to pain and cause chaos in the wider galaxy.

Mor would tell no one of this mission.

Tell no one of the society they were about to erase, of a legacy these long necks had been building toward for thousands of years.

Their only hope of recovering it was to have an off world or out of system storage backup. But such an isolated world… he doubted they had it, and doubted more they would have the funds to recover all that they would need to redo all this research.

Even the most brilliant scientists relied on others' research.

“Let’s go, Jetii,” Cody said, “the long necks might not be particularly good fighters, but they are a people without mercy.”

Mor held up a finger as he came to the lifespans section of available documents.

He was curious after the clones gave him the timeline.

Increased ageing, slowed ageing, cellular immortality.

The last was obviously a pipeline dream, more theories than question. Increased ageing, however, seemed to be well established, the mental age charge and behaviour charts showing him that while the two clones in the room with him were in their early twenties in body, they were mentally in their teens.

Mor was kind of jealous that they got to skip puberty rather easily. But then he saw how short their overall lifespans would be. He switched to the files of slowed ageing, and found happier news.

SOLDIERS, HUMAN: Shortened childhoods, lengthened 20s, 30s, 4os. Life expectancy, 8o-90 standard years. 

Mor levitated two of the blood checkers in this archive office over to himself, and said to the clones, “I need blood samples.”

Rex removed his helmet and almost hissed, “We are here to destroy data, not give them more.”

Mor glared at him, “One chart they have has human clones dying in their fifties, the other has them dying in their nineties with an extension of their prime life. Technology that they have perfected for their own species, that increased their healthy adult lives. Wouldn’t you like to know before everything is erased, where you fall?”

The brothers exchanged looks before they took the thumb tests.

It took fifteen minutes to get the necessary checks to go through.

Cody took off his helmet as well, the scar and his dark hair the only things marking him apart from his brother.

“You may both go grey, but physically? The decade you lost in your youth you’ll get back in your twenties. As soldiers, your bodies were designed to hold up to fighting standards longer. Be good to yourselves, you can expect to make it to your eighties feeling as if you’re in your seventies and so forth if you manage to scrape an extra time.”

Rex exhaled, “Well, there’s one way they didn’t screw us over at least. Now hookup the DN-Box and let's go.”

Mor nodded, as pulled the necessary wires and plugged it into the box that Cody had brought in strapped to his back.

The moment Cody activated the box, the room went dark, the archives dying along with the scientists Rex and Cody had killed on their way into the room.

They didn’t linger.

Mor felt the panic in the Force, felt little blips of life go out along with the power, and yet, he felt that stain, that rift in the Force heal over.

He was so lost in the sensations around him as they moved through the dark, he almost didn’t realize he was walking off the edge of the platform with the clones as they dived into the ocean.

The water was cold and the waves seemed to beat at them, the rain attempting to drown them.

The ship they were using had been stripped of all its electronic properties that would connect with the outside world to avoid the damage of the DN-Box.

It was a miracle Cody and Rex had been able to pilot and land the thing on almost complete manual.

After a mile of swimming, they climbed on board, and Mor watched as the two brothers took their seats and took off into the night sky, like a shooting star even as small ships fell as their lights went dark, the connection waves spreading the virus to those ships.

Anyone who visited here and connected any communication before the virus was discovered and removed would face the same fate.

There was absolute silence as they entered into lightspeed, the brothers did not look back.

Mor took a seat after stripping out of his outer robes. He opened his mouth to ask a question that died on his tongue as the Force itself shushed him.

The two brothers did not remove their helmets as they watched the starlight pass them by.

Mor felt like an interloper in that moment. 

What a terrible sacrifice they had made.

The choice to kill their people before they could ever be.

To make the decision for their brothers and for themselves, that the galaxy would be better if they had never been born at all.

* * *

One Year Later

* * *

Darth Plagueis paced his apprentice’s apartment room.

“It cannot be,” Darth Sidious said, “how could they know of Maul? And that Togruta is older than my pet.”

Darth Plagueis said nothing to this, he could think of a number of ways for it to be possible, such as Sidious training another apprentice behind his back in complete secret and giving him the same title to hide their movements, both to the galaxy and within his very thoughts.

Darth Plagueis even knew that Sidious was thinking the same.

So much for trusting one another, for being partners.

Of course, this was just a series of troubling mysteries.

His plans with the cloners been dashed after they apparently made an enemy of someone who would dash an entire planet’s databanks.

The Kaminoans had been too arrogant to back up their knowledge anywhere else.

Then there was Sifo-Dyas.

Plagueis frowned.

How was it possible for the seer to have regained his stability so fast when Plagueis had been pushing him and his friend, Master Dooku to the edge?

Plagueis had come to Coruscant today to get a look at the two Padawans who seemed to be changing the Jedi Order in small but unenforceable ways.

The greatest weakness of the Jedi was their observance of tradition and slowness to change. But against all odds; they appeared to be evolving.

That nosy Jinn playing no small part in it.

Watching them all together, Plagueis had been almost too distracted by the apprentice who rumour claimed was the Apprentice of Darth Maul.

An impossibility, not least because the Zabrack had been under constant observation on Mustafar, in addition to being far too young and inexperienced to take an apprentice of his own.

She was tall, and a beacon of light, her new Master, Master Dooku looking at her as if she was the embodiment of the Force itself.

Her presence was such that he almost missed the others around her, how the Force acted around them.

Master Dooku, Master Syfo-Dyas, Master Tahl, Master Jinn, and Master Kenobi.

Five Masters to hold up the future, to break the path forward for the next generations to come.

Padawan Ahsoka Tano was a Force to be reckoned with, but she gave the others a purpose, and the Masters were the ones who could orchestrate real change:

Could lead the Jedi Order into a new golden era.

Until Plagueis realized something.

Master Kenobi was no Master at all, at fifteen, he was a decade from his prime. A Padawan with the power and development within the Force as a Master…

How much more powerful could he become in a decade?

Then he saw what Kenobi was.

Not Padawan Tano, no, Padawan Kenobi, he was the link, he was the true power behind the throne, the Force centring around him like a nexus, holding the others together.

Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi was the shatter point of the Jedi Order.

Plagueis smiled to himself, the Jedi might believe themselves superior, might believe themselves as the true ambassadors of the Force.

But the Force spoke to Darth Plagueis as well, giving him the keys to the galaxy.

The galaxy was his to claim.

“Master?” Sidious asked.

“Be watchful, my Apprentice, we stand on the precipice of victory and the Jedi are dancing on the edge of destruction.”

* * *

AN: Thoughts, feedback, desired scenarios, or elephants?


	15. The Force

AN: So this chapter prompted me to write another fic with Anakin and an actually young Obi-Wan, and because Tahl is too much fun to write. If you enjoy it, tell me through review, I’ll add it to my full stories to complete, if not it’ll be a short story expect to see it in a day or so. It will be lighter than this fic either way.

Yes, I know I have too many ideas but I can’t stop them and they are fun to share.

Chapter 15 - The Force

Darth Sidious growled in frustration.

To train a second apprentice behind his Master’s back wasn’t a terrible idea but it wasn’t something he had done; in fact, when he heard the rumours, he had assumed Darth Plagueis had done so.

Sidious still hadn’t ruled it out.

He had questioned Maul thoroughly today to see if he even knew the name Ahsoka Tano or if he knew any Togruta’s at all, but of course, he didn’t.

Because Sidious hadn’t let him off of Mustafar unescorted, ever.

Maul had screamed the female’s name in the end, and Sidious had all the proof he needed that his apprentice was innocent.

Which either made Tano or Plagueis a liar.

The Jedi were moving, had been moving for months, their opinions on Senate matters had begun to leak to the public with more frequency, and for the first time in Sidious’s entire career as Senator, Jedi Corps members, including the _Agriculture_ Corps were popping up in the Senate to protest or advocate trade deals or security measures.

It was an unwelcome reminder that the Jedi were not merely ten thousand nights but an organization and culture of people that extended across the Republic in the hundreds and thousands.

All well-educated people raised to be leaders and give more than they took.

In the past, the Jedi had remained quiet, leaving the politics to the politicians and business folk.

But something had lit a fire under the Jedi’s collective asses.

Had knowing the Sith were still alive brought on such a change? 

Or was it something more?

Plagueis had pointed Dooku out to him once as a Jedi who might be turned.

Sidious had taken that as a threat but he was starting to see what he had meant.

Dooku, and his young Padawan, supposed Sith apprentice Ahsoka Tano, had quite a record over the last two years of sticking their noses in places where they didn't belong.

Now that Jinn and Kenobi were back on the field, they too had been stamping out ripples of unrest that Sidious and Plagueis had been cultivating for decades.

Even with the non-Force sensitives with them, the two Jedi Mandalorians were making a name for themselves.

Of course, until two years ago, no one had ever heard of Cody, Rex, or Ahsoka Tano.

Sidious glowered at the screen in front of him as he tried to track his Master’s movements.

He was rather amused, instead of worried when he saw where the group of Mavericks had been assigned.

Plagueis could handle it, that didn’t stop Sidious from enjoying the headache his Master undoubtedly had.

* * *

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Obi-Wan said as they disembarked.

Tahl ruffled his hair, “Just be a good little Jedi Master and you’ll be fine.”

He smiled, even if his heart still constricted at the warning in the Force. There was something wrong with this place, some secret lurking just below the surface.

Tahl squeezed his shoulder, “I’ll wait for the ship, if you think it’s best.”

He opened his mouth to protest but she kissed his cheek, “It is no problem, Obi-Wan. I can tell that it will give you peace of mind.”

“Sure, we’ll just let the blind one be the backup,” Rex jested.

Tahl flipped her hair, “I flew the ship here, did I not?”

“And her landing was still smoother than Skywalker’s,” Cody said deadpan.

That got a real smile from him and Ahsoka giggled.

Tahl waved at them as she turned up the ramp, it closed slowly behind her.

Trying to brush away his worries to focus on the now, he followed at Qui-Gon’s side through the streets of Muunilinst.

They had come here to follow up an investigation.

If they could get these records, Obi-Wan was certain he could put a face to the origins of the Sith.

He just needed to see the bigger picture.

The last year had been rewarding in many ways, agonizing in others, as little things, the roots of the problems that had overwhelmed him and the Order revealed themselves.

It all seemed to come back to the banks, the credits.

One true pleasure, aside from seeing the people he loved alive and thriving, was watching Ahsoka grow into her potential, and the way Dooku was ever wrapped around her finger.

Anakin had been a whirlwind of a Master, Dooku was a steady gale.

Ahsoka was a leaf that had spun circles through both their machinations. Yet, day by day, Obi-Wan saw Ahsoka begin to flow to her own currents as she had time to settle into herself. Her wildfire compassion that had made her a good match for Anakin was undimmed, yet with help, she was forming into a hearth.

She was going to be as dependable as Tahl one day, a source of light that others would gravitate toward.

“Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan looked up at Qui-Gon and raised a brow, “Yes?”

“You seem far away.”

Obi-Wan sighed, “I just feel like I’ve been chasing these shadows forever and every time I come close to finding its end, another shadow rises.”

Qui-Gon nodded, “The point is not to defeat the Darkness, Obi-Wan, the point is to match it. Hope is ever the light in the Darkness, do not forsake it.”

Obi-Wan let out a long breath as they climbed the steps, “I do not disagree, but I grow weary all the same. Anakin will be born next year and I can’t-”

Ahsoka caught his hand, “You’re not alone this time, Master.” Her smile widened, “And this time, we won’t have to fight the Count.”

“No,” Obi-Wan said, then threw a smirk over his shoulder, “We’re not even sure he can survive you.”

Dooku gave him an unmoved expression, which made Obi-Wan smile.

Obi-Wan felt Cody’s concern and he turned that smile on the Mandalorian as he said, “Something you would like to add, Commander?”

He couldn’t see Cody’s face but he could feel the man’s fondness in the Force all the same as he said, “It isn’t the Darkness rising up that should worry you, Obi-Wan, it’s the chaos you breed with every sarcastic quip.”

Ahsoka and Qui-Gon laughed at that.

Dooku sighed, “Why didn’t Sifo-Dyas come with us, again?”

“Council meeting,” Obi-Wan said, feeling lighter, “Lots and lots of meetings that I don’t have to attend, thank the Force.”

“If the Council asked you to rejoin them, would you?” Qui-Gon asked.

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

“But would you want to?” Cody asked.

Obi-Wan hesitated, his answer was slower this time, “Yes.”

“Convincing,” Rex said sarcastically.

Obi-Wan huffed, “Being a Council member is a bantha-shit position.”

“Then why would you want it?” Qui-Gon asked.

“Because I could name nearly everyone in the Order,” Obi-Wan said, “I’ve never felt more connected to the Jedi Order than while sitting at its centre. And if I had been on the Council outside the war, I would have gotten to know our people in the Corps too. I would have seen our initiates and Padawans grow into forces of goodness and light in the galaxy. Being a Council member, I got to be involved in that. Besides, I miss Mace, Plo, Kit, and Yoda.”

“You do realize Kit is only a few years ahead of you,” Qui-Gon remarked.

Obi-Wan shrugged, “Kit is still very shy. He hasn’t learned that quiet assurity that makes him him yet.”

Qui-Gon cocked his head, “You grew up to be a better Knight than I could have ever imagined, but not quite the person I thought you would be.”

“Sarcastic and melancholy,” Ahsoka said with a cheerful smile.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, “When you grow, you’re still going to be a pain in the ass.”

“I’m sorry,” she began with a wide grin with a flash of her canines, “How is that any different than any of you?”

Obi-Wan glanced back at Dooku who was looking up at the heavens as if asking the Force for strength.

* * *

Qui-Gon was worried about Obi-Wan, he had rarely seen him so outwardly unsettled in the last year.

As the pomp as the Bankers began their ‘formal proceedings’, Qui-Gon felt his impatience growing even as Dooku played the game to perfection.

Obi-Wan was glaring up at the bankers behind their monitors.

Qui-Gon was dying to know what he was thinking. 

This year, he had found not a Padawan but a friend in this young Master.

A friend who knew about himself and Tahl, who knew all his faults and loved him anyway. It was a little strange to have been loved by a near stranger, but it had not been hard to return the affection Obi-Wan had blessed him with.

The Force had given them all a second chance.

And Qui-Gon had learned the thing missing from the Jedi culture that had held them back too long.

Community and security came not just from caring about your people but by being cared for by them. Compassion for all was only worth something if that _all_ included the self.

Because in the Jedi’s attempt to abstain from attachments, they had cut themselves off from the support that their community had and was more than capable of giving. Sorrows were natural, and yes, they could be dangerous, a danger that was mitigated if those sorrows were not turned inward but a weight spread out over many.

Too many Jedi worked alone, craved to retreat from others to bear their pain and troubles alone.

He had been the same.

And his closed-off-ness had cost his third Padawan his self-confidence, his self-worth.

Being loving was as important as knowing you were loved in return.

That was true between family members, between friends, as it should have been between Jedi.

It was something they were certainly raised to believe.

But it was perhaps the fault of the Order as a whole that they weren’t always the greatest at showing it.

So Qui-Gon thanked the Force daily for this second chance he had been granted with Obi-Wan.

Dooku’s tone changed, and Qui-Gon stepped in before his own Master could lose his temper, “Enough, we are requesting a record of transitional fees, do not pretend you keep no such records.”

“They are private-” one Muun began.

“No,” Qui-Gon cut him off, “You have two seats in the Republic, we can keep this case closed but it is a matter of security. Right now, this a request but we can, and will, return with a warrant if that is what you wish.”

“Good luck keeping it a private matter then if a warrant has to go through the Senate,” Obi-Wan said as the Muun’s looked as if they would try calling a bluff.

It wasn’t a bluff, Qui-Gon would love to drag the IBC through the mud and over the coals of the Senate.

Hugo Damask II began to speak but was interrupted by an explosion of monumental proportions.

* * *

Obi-Wan felt the world shake beneath him, recognizing the source of his mounting dread.

Alarms went off and a Muun Guard ran in, “It’s the Black Sun Syndicate, they brought an army with them. Our outer differences have already been breached.”

Obi-Wan didn’t waste any time as he called Dooku’s communicator to his hand and plugged in a series of frequencies that were all too familiar.

The galaxy was large and full of terrors, the Black Sun were a problem mostly subdued by the time Ahsoka had began her initiate studies, but in this day and age, they were the largest acknowledged threat in the galaxy.

He had no memory of the Black Sun attacking Muunilinst but the timeline had been changed drastically.

Obi-Wan remembered the Battle of Muunilinst, he remembered the men he had lost, exchanging a look with Cody and Rex, he knew they remembered too.

Ahsoka hadn’t been with them then.

Obi-Wan signalled to Rex, they had to get her out.

There was no winning this battle, not without backup.

The Muun delegation had already slipped into their bunkers, the guards escorting them out and shutting the doors behind them.

Obi-Wan took lead, thankfully, neither Dooku nor Qui-Gon hesitated.

Ahsoka, Rex, and Cody knew the drill.

Ordinarily, Obi-Wan would have been confident in their success, and if reinforcements arrived soon enough, they might even be able to put a dent in the Black Sun’s forces, however…

There was a Darkness on Muunilinst, a shrouding, a tear in the Light.

It was akin to the Darkness that had descended across Coruscant leading up to the war.

The Force was urging him on, he could almost hear it telling him to _run._

The Sith were here.

Somehow, it originated here.

Because of course that made sense, didn’t it?

The Muuns had been involved with the Kaminoan cloners, the Muuns had been supporting both sides of the war.

What if the Sith weren’t just involved with the Bankers, what if the Sith was a Banker, an unassuming Muun draped in the benign of playing with numbers.

Numbers.

Scientists.

Science and the Force combined without a single lick of empathy or compassion.

A mind that could set a board and count the costs, having every intention of having _others_ pay their debts.

Obi-Wan thought back to how Hugo Damask II had looked at him, had looked through him, into him.

Obi-Wan felt the pressure, the movement of air around the projectile.

Obi-Wan twisted back even as he ran, caught one of Dooku’s hands, heaving him forward in a spin even as Ahsoka tackled Qui-Gon; Cody and Rex having already fallen back to take fire at the spreader with a mini-canon.

The blast had Dooku and Obi-Wan spinning, airborne for a moment, Obi-Wan used the Force to catch them both, Dooku landing as easily on his feet as Obi-Wan.

Ahsoka was hauling Qui-Gon up by the collar as they continued their running.

This type of warfare wasn’t something Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were unused to, but it was perhaps the most dangerous type of warfare.

The syndicates were far more organized than any pirate, and judging by the lack of black star symbols on many of the crafts descending on the city, Obi-Wan was sure they had hired mercenaries as well.

Cody had once said he’d take being outnumbered by the Separatist droids five thousand to one then be caught in the crosshairs of the syndicates.

Today, they were in the thick of it, and their brothers in white weren’t coming to save them this time.

* * *

Plagueis watched in fascination as he tracked the Jedi’s progress through the city.

It was incredible, really, what he had instigated was nothing short of a war. The city was in an uproar.

It did bother Plagueis a bit to see his city disorganized like this, but it was worth ridding the galaxy of these Jedi.

Only, they were making incredible progress.

Plagueis shifted closer to his screen to watch in amazement as they moved like a military task force, escaping even the falling buildings and skirting the attention of those specifically hired to look for them.

It wasn’t that Jedi were incapable of this, it was the knowledge Plagueis had of the Jedi that their Knights were not trained for this.

The two Mandalorians were sharp-shooting anyone’s craft that pointed in their direction, never missing even while running.

Perhaps it was they who were to blame for this group's fluid movement through what would have been the worst case scenario for any other group of Jedi Knights.

They made it look easy.

Plagueis’s gaze narrowed on the Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi as he led his team through the streets.

He wasn’t relying on the Force, no, this looked like experience.

Looking down at the datapad in his hand, he dismissed the idea that his experiences for Melinda/Daan could have given him this type of training.

Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t a soldier.

He was a general, moving through the chaos like a fish swimming upstream, with an inborn determination and skill.

Plagueis tapped on the outgoing message Obi-Wan had made in the hearing chamber;

Black Sun Syndicate, Mass Attack on Muunilist, Central City. Immediate Help Requested.

He had used Master Dooku’s communicator, but not the Master or his own frequencies.

“11-4D,” Plagueis intoned, “decode this.”

“Yes, Sir,” 11-4D said, was quiet for a moment, “High Council Member, Emergency Frequency, Wartime Sequence, Priority, Immediate, Unlisted Jedi Master.”

Plagueis said nothing, his gaze going back to the Padawan who had the codes of a Council member.

Codes that he would very much like to get his hands on, because though the High Council codes were overseen by the Republic, and therefore the records were public information within certain ranks of the Senate, the codes themselves were not.

So how did a mere Padawan know them?

Plagueis steepled his fingers, Obi-Wan Kenobi a danger to all his plans, and the more he saw of the boy’s actions the more concerned he became.

The Force was with this one.

Too bad for Kenobi, Plagueis mused, that the Force was also with himself.

* * *

Ahsoka wouldn’t say she missed this, not with the death and fear spiralling around her in the Force.

But there was a strange naturalness to it, an almost relief to it all.

Her feet hit the stone walk without pause as energy bolts streamed through the air, flashes of light in her consciousness.

Master Jinn might as well have been a civilian. Dooku was more at ease with it. Both of these Jedi Masters had fought in wars throughout their careers.

But this was bad, even by Clone Wars standards. This was the type of firefight that Anakin had refused to let her join, only her experience with the Mandalorians had really prepared her for it.

Yet even Mandalorians, not even Death Watch, truly did damage like the Syndicates.

There weren’t enough of them.

But take a few thousand trained terrorists against an almost entirely civilian population.

They ducked behind a building.

“This may be as bad as Umbara,” Rex said.

“We only have five to die, however,” Obi-Wan said without mirth as he looked out into the street and the sky.

Ahsoka stiffened at the bleakness in his voice.

It was never a good sign when Master Kenobi dropped the sarcasm and his gallows humour became cold statements.

Anakin said it only happened when they were about to lose.

Not screw up, not kidnapped, or tortured, or danger, but when they were about to lose a lot of men and he didn’t see a way out of it.

It made her go cold down to her soul.

“Sir,” Cody said sharply.

Obi-Wan whipped his head around to meet Cody’s gaze, a long moment passed between them, and Obi-Wan nodded once before he commanded, “Rex, take Qui-Gon back to the ship.”

Qui-Gon immediately protested, “What are you-”

“Tahl will sense you coming, go. Now.”

Qui-Gon hesitated a mere moment, and Rex shoved him, both men broke into a run and disappeared around the opposite side of the building.

“Well?” Dooku asked, clearly wanting an explanation.

“The four of us are going to join the fight, Cody with me as a gunner and you do as much damage as you can as Ahsoka flies. Reinforcements will not get to us in time, we need to get a path out so our ship can depart past the atmosphere,” Obi-Wan said, his gaze going back to the privatized army of criminals that made pirates look like kindergarteners. 

Dooku activated his lightsabre, not a moment too soon, as Obi-Wan dove toward a speeder, Cody hot on his heels. Obi-Wan took the tattooed man’s head off. Cody straddled behind Obi-Wan as they took off toward the clouds.

In the same space of time, Ahsoka jumped toward the building, using the lip of a window as a launch point to backflip onto a speeder.

She landed on her hands, used her legs to pull the rider out of his seat. She almost threw herself off with him before she caught the seat and pulled herself up into the speeder as it dove toward the ground, Dooku was behind her a moment later she brought them back up, trailing behind Obi-Wan.

She missed her fighter. Even if anyone who came near them was gutted by Dooku’s sabre, her fighter could have done far more damage.

“They are focused on you, Obi-Wan!” Dooku called into the wind.

Obi-Wan pumped the breaks, falling back behind him, his voice morphed as he blurred passed them, “Price of being special.” 

Ahoska fired her guns on the speeder more freely as she weaved them through the returning shots.

“Why are they after Obi-Wan?” she asked loud enough for Dooku.

“He shines in the Force, Padawan,” Dooku said, leaning over her, using his bigger frame as a physical shield. It was something that just about everyone, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Rex, and all of Rex’s brothers tended to do. “If he was right about the Sith’s involvement in this, then perhaps he’s being targeted by them.”

Ahsoka felt her blood go cold.

For some reason during the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan always seemed to be the one getting hurt. Anakin only ever got really hurt because of his own foolish planning, but Obi-Wan had always been a prime target.

But he had been a Council Member then, and he and Cody had been in charge of the entire 7th Sky Corps, and to be fair, Anakin and Anakin’s troops as well. 

Obi-Wan had more people under him than any other single Jedi in the GAR, so it made sense that he would be targeted.

But not now.

Now he was just a Padawan.

But what if he had been targeted for another reason?

But why would the Sith be more concerned with Obi-Wan than Anakin? Wasn’t Anakin the Chosen One?

“Ahsoka!” Dooku called.

She threw them into a barrel roll, a millisecond from being fried.

She glanced behind her, Obi-Wan hot on her tail, his expression grave.

They were in deep bantha-shit on this one.

The Muun’s forces were finally deployed, it just added more chaos to the skies.

She took it back, she hadn’t missed this.

She hadn’t missed this at all.

She and Obi-Wan moved through the explosions like floating leaves in a raging river.

It wouldn’t take much to sink them.

“There!” Dooku called pointing to the ship that had its hatch lowering.

Ahsoka would have liked to say she could handle anything, but when five Black Sun goons converged on them, not even Master Dooku could have stopped what followed.

Except, it was Master Dooku who saved them.

His arm around her waist, he pulled her right out of her seat and their speeder collided with two of their assailants. Dooku managed to direct them downward on one of the other goons, taking his head off, as she broke from his grip to do the same.

Dooku mounted the speeder in time.

But Ahsoka was forced to jump into the open air as another Black Sun member blew the speeder up.

These people were insane.

At least Death Watch had somewhat cared if their own members died.

The Black Sun had no such allegiances.

Obi-Wan got to her before Dooku, and Ashoka did her best to stay still, even being half over the gears and in his lap with her legs uselessly hung over his right arm.

Obi-Wan swerved violently, saving them from being blown up, just another bloom of fire in the sky, but they ended up clipping another.

Losing altitude, Cody jumped off the back and commandeered another of the Black Sun’s speeders.

Ahsoka remained where she was as Dooku and Cody cleared a path for them to their ship.

Tahl was an excellent pilot, that she was one of the best pilots among them despite being blind was more or less her way of showing off.

She had said that in the air, her senses were as good as everyone else's, considering most Jedi relied on the Force during a firefight, Ahsoka got it.

Cody and Dooku boarded half a minute before them, having enough time to dismount and begin working on reinforcing the shields with Qui-Gon.

Ahsoka was definitely feeling the lack of R2-D2.

The next few minutes happened in a blink of an eye, while in the same expanse, stretching across hours.

Again, their speeder was hit, and Obi-Wan picked Ahsoka up bodily as he made the jump to the ramp.

He slipped on the landing, and she hit the metal ramp with a thud even as she shifted to reach downward to Obi-Wan.

Her hand caught his, despite his Padawan braid and his looking like a teenager, she more often than not saw him as the Master she first met, so that as she pulled him up, she was surprised at how light his weight was.

Obi-Wan didn’t baulk as he got to his feet, urging Ahsoka further into the ship bay as he called to Tahl, “Close the ramp, Tahl! Close the ramp!”

Ahsoka took in a breath and even as she felt the shot coming, she was already in Obi-Wan’s embrace as he spun her away from the danger.

“ _Obi-Wan!”_ Qui-Gon shouted as Master Kenobi’s arms slackened around her.

The world hollowed out around her, as silence filled her.

“No,” she breathed into the surreal silence that belied the bursts of light and fire in the chaos behind him.

“Live well, Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan said as he pulled back from her.

“Master-”

“The Force will be with you,” he said as their ship was hit. The vessel shook and Obi-Wan’s feet lost purchase on the ramp as he fell backwards into the clouds.

_Always,_ his voice spoke into the quiet of her mind.

She lurched forward to catch his hand again, but Dooku caught her, pulling her back from edge, preventing her from falling out as well.

She reached out her senses, holding Obi-Wan suspended midfall, a sorrowful, yet sardonic, smirk on his lips and pride glimmering in his blue eyes as gravity fought against her.

Ahsoka could have reeled him back in given but a second more, but a small one person ship cut through the clouds, Obi-Wan hit the dash and was pulled out of her reach, out of her life.

Cody hit the button to keep the hatch from closing further, but there was another explosion from the direction the ship had taken Obi-Wan.

She had a single moment of fleeting hope that the worst had been further delayed.

The sound that escaped Master Qui-Gon, however, shattered her. A breath stolen scream severing through her, as he fell to his knees, his expression one of complete devastation.

She felt the tears spill down her cheeks, and she didn’t realize she was speaking until Dooku pulled her into an embrace, his voice low and sorrowful as he said, “Shhhhh, Ahsoka, shhhh, he’s with the Force now.”

“No,” she was saying, “no, no, no,” over and over again even as she turned into him, her knees going weak as Dooku brought them to the ground.

Cody had an altogether different reaction as he clicked a jetpack into place on his back.

“Cody, he’s-” Rex began.

“He’s not dead,” Cody said with enough surety that Ahsoka almost believed him.

But even if the wound he had taken for her hadn’t been fatal, even Master Obi-Wan Kenobi couldn’t survive being in the heart of an explanation.

“What happened? We need to make the ascent, let the hatch close!”

Cody went to the hatch as if he would leap off the edge, but Rex caught his wrist, “Cody, no, he’s-”

Cody spun on him, throwing a punch that Rex dodged and shouted, “Until I see a body, he’s not dead!”

“Who’s dead?” Tahl called back, her voice high.

“He’s gone, my friend,” Qui-Gon said, his voice smaller than Ahsoka had ever heard it.

“He’s not!”

Rex took of his helmet and shook his head mournfully, “Codes, we-”

“ _No!”_ Cody yelled after ripping off his own helmet. “Don’t you dare say-”

Rex launched for the hatch switch and bellowed, “Go, Tahl!”

“NO!” Cody roared as he went to push Rex away.

Rex fought him, and Cody fought back.

Ahsoka had never seen any of the clones fight each other in earnest, and the raw expression of determination and anger.

And of _fear_ on Cody’s face scared her.

But Rex, her Captain, was not second best, which he proved as he tackled and pinned Cody to the ground.

“Let me go!”

The pressure in the ship changed as Tahl pulled them up through the atmosphere.

Cody let out a roar that must have come from the darkest parts of his soul as he bucked against Rex, “He’s not dead! We have to go back! He can’t be! _Let me go!”_

“You have to let him go,” Rex said with a grunt as he pressed Cody against the grates.

Qui-Gon staggered to his feet as he passed into the cockpit to help Tahl make the calculations for entering hyperspace.

Cody screamed, “You don’t understand! You don’t understand! I can’t leave the General behind!”

“I do understand, and I am so sorry, brother,” Rex said, voice strong and compassionate.

Tears spilled from Cody’s brown eyes, he wasn’t weeping like Ahsoka was, no, those were tears of wrath.

“You don’t! You don’t! _You have never loved him as I do!_ ” Cody raged.

Those words hit Ahsoka, she sunk further into Dooku as her heart bleed out as the blackhole yawned open around them where once one of the brightest of stars in the galaxy had burned.

“He’s with the Force now,” her Master repeated as he pulled his cloak around her, “He’s with the Force.”

_Live well, Ahsoka. The Force will be with you._

_Always._

She opened herself up to that great life, and let her pain bleed into the Force as she wept freely.

As the world they had built together came shattering down around her.

* * *

AN: Opps, did I just kill my own favourite character of all time?


	16. Shattering

AN: You cannot conceive of the glee that overcame me when I realized how many of you didn't believe I'd do it: This chapter is going to fucking hurt :D  _ Cough, cough _ , I mean he comes back to life and there's slash, OH,  _ and _ this fic is  _ totally _ a fix-it just like I labelled it in the description ;)

* * *

Chapter 16 - Shattering

A week passed, Black Sun did take a major hit to their fraction, but it was hard to care.

Hard to care when Obi-Wan had been the price paid.

Qui-Gon could hardly sleep, hardly think clearly.

He barely had the strength to answer the door, leaving Tahl to her silent meditation. On his sofa.

Two people he was very surprised to see were standing there, though he supposed he shouldn’t be all that surprised.

“Feemor,” he croaked, not sure at all how much speaking he had done since they left Muunilinst.

Feemor hugged him, and Qui-Gon let out a sigh as he hugged the young man back. “It’s been years,” Qui-Gon said as best he could without being accusatory.

It had been his own foolish words and actions that had driven him off in the first place.

Feemor pulled back, “I go by Mor now, and… I meant to see you a year or more ago but I ended up going on a mission with Cody and Rex and well, the Sith have been-”

Qui-Gon pulled back, “You don’t have to explain yourself, Mor.”

Mor smiled at him sadly, “I’m sorry, Master. I am sorry I never got to meet him.”

Qui-Gon’s heart tightened, “You would have liked him.” He looked over Mor’s shoulder, “Rael.”

Rael didn’t smile as he asked, “Do you need anything, Qui-Gon?”

Qui-Gon shook his head, Rael had lost his Padawan too.

“Come in, both of you.”

“I’ll make the tea,” Mor said quickly as he went to the kitchenette.

Rael gave Tahl an appraising look as he sat beside Qui-Gon, she didn’t leave her mediation to greet their guests.

“How has Dooku’s new Padawan, our sister Padawan been doing?”

Qui-Gon closed his eyes.

Ahsoka had grieved the most openly among them, something that her former Master was likely to thank for… only now?

“She wants revenge,” Qui-Gon sighed.

Rael sighed as well, brushing his hand through his wild greying hair, “Dooku is not the best person to-”

“On the contrary,” Qui-Gon said, “Ahsoka has changed him. He’s redirecting her fury into purpose. They’ve been in the archives together for nearly every waking hour trying to find threads of the Sith’s actions.”

Mor came back to the table with a pot of brewing tea, “Well, I guess I know where I’ll be for my stay at the Temple.”

“Don’t you want revenge?” Rael asked.

Qui-Gon sighed again, “That’s not what Obi-Wan would have wanted. I have a few-”

Another knock came on the door, Mor got the door without being asked.

Mace stepped in, and said without preamble, “Qui-Gon, we need to talk.”

Not him and Mace, but Qui-Gon and the Council.

Whenever there was a Padawan death, the Master had to undergo a Council hearing, both a full account of the events as well as an update of the Master's condition.

The love for one’s Padawan was unavoidable.

Qui-Gon didn’t like to think about what his reaction would have been had Obi-Wan been truly fifteen. He doubted very much that there would be any voice of reason in his head telling him not to do exactly what Dooku had been attempting to stop Ahsoka from doing.

But over the last two years, outside of Tahl, Obi-Wan had become his nearest and dearest friend.

They had discussed Tahl’s death in the other timeline with some detail, Obi-Wan had shared the ways he had failed his Padawan, failed his mandate.

He did not believe that loving Tahl, that pledging himself to her was wrong, but he also understood now how far he could fall.

It wasn’t Obi-Wan who had been in danger of becoming Xanatos but Qui-Gon himself. So Qui-Gon had done his best to face his grief.

He would survive this, if only because Obi-Wan would be disappointed if he didn’t.

“Qui-Gon,” Mace said.

Rael took his hand under the table and squeezed.

Qui-Gon took that hand for a mere moment before standing. He said to Tahl, “I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

She didn’t respond.

Mor held out a cup of tea to him and walked with him to join Mace.

His first Padawan, the only one left to him, passed Mace a cup a tea with the warning, “Be nice.”

Mace took the proffered cup and nodded before turning to the door.

Qui-Gon almost smiled as he bowed to Mor before following Mace down a hall.

“I’ve convinced the others,” Mace said as they entered a private meditation room, “that you need only give your report to me and I will give it before the rest of the Council.”

_ Your report _ .

Qui-Gon watched the energy bolt hit Obi-Wan in the back as he shielded his grandpadawan.

A moment in time frozen forever.

Would it even had mattered if he hadn’t fallen?

Would they have gotten him to a healer in time?

That image played over and over and over again, yet not half so painful as the tangible moment when the Force bond between them, the one he hadn’t earned but Obi-Wan had forged with his Master for a decade or more, was severed.

A bond he had come to rely on.

Cut.

Ended.

Over.

“Unless you want to stand before the full Council?” Mace said, breaking through his thoughts.

“No,” Qui-Gon said, “And I do thank you, for this, for giving me the week…”

“I know it’s not enough, my friend,” Mace said sympathetically, “But nothing ever would be.”

Qui-Gon sipped his tea before he had began, surprised that Feemor -Mor, had remembered how he liked it.

Like Obi-Wan, he had only had a few years with Mor after his first Master had passed away and Qui-Gon had finished his training.

Which is why he had foolishly said that he denounced Mor’s success as his own.

Mor was the reason why he was a good person, a great Jedi, not Qui-Gon.

“Obi-Wan said he had a bad feeling about the mission from the moment we landed,” Qui-Gon explained, “It’s why Tahl stayed with the ship.”

Qui-Gon finished the cup of tea before he finished his report.

Mace was looking at him with amazement and great remorse as he finished, “He died with honour, Qui-Gon, and from this account, I don’t know if you all would have survived without him.”

Qui-Gon nodded, “We wouldn’t have made it through the streets but they were after Obi-Wan, specifically, Mace. The Sith must be behind this, I can think of no reason why the Black Sun would target him.”

Mace gave him an odd look, “Why would the Sith target Obi-Wan and not Ahsoka Tano, isn’t she the one involved with the Sith?”

The amount of suspicion in his last words told Qui-Gon what he, Dooku, and Tahl had believed from the start.

The High Council had never bought that Ahsoka was truly a Sith Apprentice, but she had been too powerful, and too well trained to have her training to be cut where it had been.

But as they had no cause to arrest her, initiating her into the Order had been the easiest, surest way to keep tabs on her and learn more about her past.

The last hadn’t worked out so well for them as the only person Dooku really spoke with on the Council was Sifo-Dyas and Yoda.

Sifo-Dyas stopped sharing everything he knew when the others began to ignore his visions and Dooku liked annoying Yoda by withholding information.

But that wasn’t the question Qui-Gon had, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were pretty much equals in power level, which was somewhere near Dooku’s Force abilities…

So why Obi-Wan specifically?

“He knew too much,” Qui-Gon said as he watched Obi-Wan lead them through the streets, as he remembered the way he had looked up at the bankers. “He knew… he had all the pieces…”

Qui-Gon shut his eyes wondering how the bankers fit.

Was it the Trade Federation? Was… who were the Sith Lords?

One of the head bankers? Or did the Sith own one of the head bankers?

It wasn’t lost on him that they hadn’t received those reports yet, nor that they would have excess time to alter their records now, making their mission more than a failure.

Because they had landed on the planet with a warrant from the Chancellor directly.

They had planned to ask nicely, then play politics,  _ then _ pull the warrant if the Muuns still denied them.

But those reports would be useless to them now.

“The pieces to what?”

Qui-Gon looked at him, “We don’t know how many Sith there are, likely three currently, but three people, no matter how powerful they are, cannot take over the galaxy or destroy the Jedi on their own. The pieces are the people and events they have been using to their advantage. Obi-Wan could see the board. Even Dooku hasn’t been able to catch up and Ahsoka is too young.”

“Padawan Kenobi-” Mace began.

“ _ Master _ Kenobi,” Qui-Gon snapped, “He is Master Kenobi and was a sitting member of the Council, he is one of the best Knights in the entire Order. As strong as you and wiser than Yoda.”

Mace tilted his head, “Obi-Wan Kenobi died at age fifteen.”

“He was forty years old,” Qui-Gon corrected, “and appointed to the Council at thirty-five. He was a General in a Force-forsaken galactic civil war for three years.”

Mace said nothing.

Qui-Gon let out a harsh breath, “Obi-Wan is a time traveller, so are Ahsoka, Cody, and Rex. Ahsoka’s Master was Obi-Wan’s first apprentice, so I suppose she is my great-grandpadawan if she wasn’t also my sister Padawan.”

“Time traveller,” Mace repeated, “So this is why you have been avoiding me for the last two years.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

Mace shrugged and leaned back in his seat, “Time travelling makes more sense than anything else I can think of. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Master of Soresu. Makes more sense than Padawan Kenobi having mastered a new form in two years and his knowing it better than anyone currently in the Order. Yes, Qui-Gon, do not think we have failed to notice him. Yoda has always held the boy in high regards.”

“Dooku joined the Sith, Tahl and I die, and the galaxy goes to hell, it seems the Force disagreed with that fate.”

Mace narrowed his gaze, “Sifo-Dyas has known this whole time, hasn’t he?”

Qui-Gon gave him a look, “With Ahsoka as Dooku's new Padawan, what do you think?”

“I think her previous Master was closer to the Dark Side than you are letting on,” Mace retorted. "That she was a Sith was a lie, but that her Master was dangerous, was not."

“She was sent to the frontlines as a Jedi Commander at fourteen, from their accounts, the war destroyed what was left of our decaying culture.”

“Our culture isn’t decaying,” Mace said.

“Isn’t it?” Qui-Gon asked, turning on him sharply, causing the other man to stand. “And what have you and the others done since learning that the Sith have returned?”

“We are not an army-”

“No! We aren’t but the Republic is fracturing and we are their first line of defence. The Order will not survive, we keep trying to tell you- Obi-Wan was able to confirm  _ all _ of Sifo-Dyas’s visions but for the last. But for the last visions of the Temple being slaughtered and the Jedi hunted down to extinction to the ends of the galaxy.”

Mace stood and asked in a low voice, “You think there is an easy fix to that?”

“We need to decentralize the Jedi,” Qui-Gon said, “through the Jedi High Council the corruption of the Senate,  _ the Sith _ were able to command us all.”

“Yoda-”

_ “I don’t care what Yoda thinks! _ ” Qui-Gon bellowed, “For the last two years, I have watched Obi-Wan drowning in guilt over the deeds of the Jedi. When he came back, when he stood before the Council, he saw us for what we were. One of our  _ greatest  _ Jedi Masters no longer wished to be a Jedi because of what we had and would become.”

“Qui-Gon, be reasonabl-”

“Reasonable?” he cut him off, “Do you know how Galdiraan would have played out without information of the future on our side? We, the Jedi, would have supported a  _ terrorist _ organization which would later spark a civil war on Mandalore that would decimate more than half their population! Tensions are bad enough between the Jedi and Mandalore, can you imagine what the fall out of that was? We aren’t just failing as people, we are the means of our own destruction.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“Mean that we have to change? No, Mace, we  _ must _ change. The Force does not have a preference for Dark or Light but it will push against anything and anyone that does not move with it. The longer and harder we hold to our traditions, to our codes, rhetoric over our growth with the Force, the more surely we ensure that the tide will turn against us. We have been given one more chance, and we are running out of time to act on it.”

“The Sith-”

“This isn’t about the Sith!” Qui-Gon yelled, finding the root of what he and Obi-Wan had been learning together, “This is about the Order, this about the Force. Politics are evil but they are a necessary evil. It is an admirable thing that the Jedi stepped back from power but it is delusional to think we have no part in it, when it is from the politicians that we take our commands from. The Republic was made to bring stability, it was not meant to divert us from serving equally the rest of the galaxy, from serving the Force in its entirety.”

“We don’t have the numbers to do that-”

“We would if we treated the Corps with more care, if we invited more civilians into our ranks, if the Jedi were encouraged to have families and friends outside of the Knights-”

“Qui-Gon,” Mace warned.

“There is slavery on our borders!” Qui-Gon exploded, “Inside our borders! The Force exists in all living things, it is them who we serve, and the moment we lost sight of that was the moment the Force turned to others.”

“You think the Force will support the Sith over us?”

“No, but the Sith would have forced our hands, as they force us now. Give my full report to the High Council, Mace, and tell them that Master Obi-Wan Kenobi can either be the last to die of an old Order that bowed to corruption, or he can be the first among many before we erased from the galaxy completely.”

He bent to take his teacup from the side table where Mace had left it and retreated back to his room.

Mace did not stop him.

Rael and Mor had left by the time he got back to the room.

Tahl was still mediating.

He sighed and put the tea cups on the table, he could wash them in the morning.

He sat down beside and laid a hand on her knee. “The funeral is tomorrow, you should get some real sleep.”

She didn’t move.

“Tahl-”

He just barely caught her hand before she could strike him.

“Tahl,” he said again, as she snarled at him, “Tahl.”

“I’m not going,” she bit out.

“Tahl, I want you there.”

She stilled, resting both her hands on his chest, when she turned those golden-green eyes on him, tears were spilling down her cheeks, “In my dreams, I see him for who he was, for who he could have been. He deserved happiness, Qui-Gon, he deserved-”

He pulled her into his arms as his own tears fell, “Yes, he deserved happiness.”

She wrapped her arms around him, her hands pressing into his back, “I never wanted a Padawan.”

“I know,” he said.

She pulled back from him, to look at him, a habitual action, “I never want to have children with you.”

He brushed the tears back from her cheeks as said again, “I know.”

Her voice tightened, the tears spilling faster as his heart tightened and the Force rang with their grief.

“Obi-Wan was both those things to me, he was mine as much as he was yours.”

“I know.”

“He was my friend.”

He kissed her forehead, “He was mine too.”

* * *

Ahsoka felt numb as she watched her grandmaster’s funeral proceed for a second time.

But it was different this time in a number of ways.

Last time there had been a body.

And it had been faked by the Council.

This time there was no body; but it was real.

Ahsoka was, for once, glad Anakin wasn’t here, that he didn’t have to live through this.

What were they going to do without him?

Obi-Wan had been the keystone to her world, to the people beside her. Even Master Dooku had looked toward Obi-Wan for guidance.

That was another difference, the people standing around them as a marker was placed where a body should be, metal insignia with a pouch like jewel set in its centre. That fuel would cause the same light in the incinerator as a body would have.

There were fewer people here this time, fewer people who had known him, really known him.

Fewer people who cared, even if the galaxy had lost a pivotal star in its fabric.

His creche mates looked on in quiet horror.

That first realization that Padawans, even protected at their Masters’ sides, could die. They knew that logically, of course, but Obi-Wan was the first of this generation to die while on a mission.

The moment the light went up, Ahsoka had to acknowledge that this was it, he wasn’t miraculously going to come back this time.

He had chosen her life over his own.

She owed him everything.

Dooku put a hand on her shoulder, and she put her own over his. Obi-Wan had said she could learn much from him, that she could change him.

She looked up into his brown eyes, the sorrow in them mirroring her own.

Ahsoka hadn’t thought she would come to love this man, this would-be-Sith, as much as she loved and counted on Anakin.

But things would never be the same without Obi-Wan, who seemed to be one of her only constants.

Rex took her other hand, and she turned a sad mockery of smile to him.

Rex.

Her other constant, the person she trusted above all others.

He understood, better than anyone but her and Cody who they had lost today.

Despite what the others may think, they had never seen Obi-Wan for who he could be.

Cody was the first to leave as soon as the last of the light died.

Rex squeezed her hand before pulling away to follow, Ahsoka not far behind.

They caught up to him in the hall, Rex grabbed Cody’s shoulder before he put his helmet back on, marked with the slashes that had scarred over Obi-Wan’s heart.

“Codes-”

“Save it, brother,” Cody snapped at him, turning on Rex with wrath in his chocolate-brown eyes, “I buried him once already, it wasn’t his body last time, there is no body this time. He isn’t really gone.”

“He was shot in the back, was hit at high speeds by a durasteeled ship, then flew into an explosion that dropped a ship at high speeds into a war zone. They aren’t going to find a body. Because the human body cannot survive that, no matter what magical powers he possessed. He is dead, Cody,” Rex said, his voice growing harder with each word.

“No,” Cody said stubbornly.

Ahsoka took a step back from Rex as she felt his persistence in the Force change, of all of them, Rex had handled Obi-Wan’s death the best, until now it would seem.

“He’s dead, Cody! Just like our brothers!” Ahsoka startled as he began yelling, “Just like Fives! And Alpha, and Appo, and Waxer, Bly, Echo, Wolffe, Monnk, Jesse, Hawk, Kix, Ponds, 99, Boil, Hardcase, Dogma-” 

And on he went, screaming names to the arched domes of the Jedi Temple, the names of men and numbers lost and would never be as the Jedi who had come to bear witness to Obi-Wan’s funeral and others drawn by the commission listened.

Listened to the man list his dead, name his family, and voice an abyss that had been born into his soul.

Not just because their brothers might not have been born, but because they had been dying by the hundreds, by the thousands, from the beginning of his life.

Rex finally addressed Cody again, “They are dead and gone because of  _ us _ and they aren’t coming back! Did you think we were immortal!? Did you think we were the Chosen Ones? Did you think we were better than our brothers? Did you think the Jedi were better than us? That Obi-Wan was better; that the Generals couldn’t die? But they can die, just like us; they do die. Because we are men, and that is what men do,  _ we die!" _

Cody just stared at him, “It wasn’t murder, Rex.”

Rex went toe to toe with his brother, his blonde hair and Cody’s scar their own physical difference, “What does it matter if they were murdered or slaughtered? They’re gone, and nobody cares, just as the galaxy will not care if one more Jedi Padawan dies!”

Cody’s jaw stiffened, “I will not give up hope.”

“Why!?” Rex cried, “Skywalker isn’t coming to save us this time. The only reason your General survived the shit he did was because mine bailed him out!”

Cody watched him impassively, his emotions firmly locked away, “They had each other's backs.”

“As they had our brothers’ but they still died,” Rex said, “Thousands still died for a Republic that did not love them. Kenobi was no different.”

Rage broke through Cody’s mask, “He was different!”

“Why!?”

“Because-”

“Because why?” Rex demanded.

Cody took a breath, “Because the Force was with him, and he was not meant to die.”

Rex cursed at him in Mandalorian, then said, “If you run from this, it will destroy you, brother.”

“If I accept it, then I will be destroyed.”

Ahsoka was not sure what would have happened next but the crowd of Jedi parted then, to allow a group of three Muuns through.

She only recognized Damask.

Cody was the one to greet him, “You found him?”

Damask shook his head, “There was not enough organic material to recover from the wreckage or the others who died with him.” He held something out to Cody.

Ahsoka had to step around Rex to see, her heart sank.

“It was the only thing we could salvage," Damask said, his voice deep.

Cody took the mangled sabre hilt, Ahsoka recognized enough of the pieces to know that it was Obi-Wan’s.

She hadn’t cried yet today, but to see the blue crystal wink at her in its broken home twisted her heart anew.

Cody fell to his knees before the Muun, his helmet clattering to the ground as he held the lightsabre in both hands, and let out a cry that brought too many memories from the war.

Damask laid a long fingered hand over Cody’s head, “May your loved one find peace.”

Cody said nothing as he curled further in on himself and wept openly.

It was rare for the clones to break down in public but then she supposed, Cody wasn’t just grieving for Obi-Wan; but for the millions, he had lost.

oOo

The next night, Cody packed his bags.

“No,” Ahsoka said, the apartment already felt too empty, she couldn’t stand to lose someone else this soon, “No, you can't leave.”

Cody already had his helmet on as he ordered, “Move, Commander Tano.”

She didn't.

He took a step closer, his voice dropping, “I outrank you; now _ move _ .”

Hurt flooded her but she raised her chin in defiance, “The war is over.”

“Until the Sith are dead,” he snapped as Rex took her arm to pull her back, “The war is never over.”

The moment she was clear of the door, Cody was striding past her.

The doors hushed shut behind him.

He didn’t even say goodbye.

Ahsoka spun on Rex, ripping her arm from his grasp, “You're just going to let him go!?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“Because, I don't want to see him die by inches,” he said, looking determined but miserable as glanced at the door.

“Cody isn’t dying, one day he could-”

“Get over it?” Rex asked, “No, Ahsoka, he is never going to get over it.” 

“Why not?”

“Because he has lost too much already.”

She shook her head, “No more than you, and he still has us.”

“Ahsoka,” Rex sighed, “Obi-Wan has always meant more to him than a General, it was like that almost from the start.”

She startled as she dozens of moments, hundreds of looks, passed through her mind's eye. She had always discounted it as admiration but now... “Did Obi-Wan feel the same?”

Rex shrugged, “He was in love with Satine, wasn't he? I don't know if things would have changed now. I think Cody had hoped… he would have waited regardless.”

“But then why claim him as a son?”

Rex smiled bitterly, “He wanted to protect him, Ahsoka, and that he was there that day and Kenobi died anyway, Cody will never forgive himself.”

“Are you okay?” she asked

Rex shrugged, "I still have you, Ahsoka. And you are a true sister to me. We've walked through the same hell together."

"You weren't in love with Anakin, were you?" she asked, desperate to chase the defeated look from his eyes.

Rex snorted, "No, I've followed that crazy bastard into hell and I'd do it again, but no, I have never felt what Cody felt for General Kenobi about anyone."

She took his hand, “You're young still."

He squeezed her hand, "You and I are going to be okay, Ahsoka. Obi-Wan would have wanted us to go on."

She felt her expression darken, "The Sith did this."

Rex half smiled, "They are going to regret ever crossing us."

She nodded, but the following silence in the room was deafening.

Rex stated, “We can’t stay in these rooms anymore. What do you say to taking over the Count’s spare room?”

She smirked, “You’re going to make his life miserable, aren’t you?”

“What kind of music do you think he hates most?” Rex asked with false innocence. 

She laughed, it wasn’t a real laugh but it was a start.

She felt the Force shift through her, and Morai flew out of Obi-Wan’s room and landed on her shoulder.

Ahsoka blinked back tears.

_ Live well, Ahsoka. The Force will be with you: Always.” _

* * *

_ The Grand Experiment - The Moon of Sojourn - 42 BBY _

* * *

“Perhaps this is a bad idea,” Darth Sidious ventured as he stood across from Plagueis.

“Do not distract me, Apprentice,” he said without looking up from the alchemy table.

Plagueis could increase and decrease the midichlorians in a living thing’s body.

The question was, could he take directly from the Dark Side of the Force and create a living thing, an embodiment of the Dark Side of the Force?

Darth Plagueis opened his Force bond to Sidious, wider than he had ever allowed.

The power they called was nothing short of intoxicating.

But like an elastic pulled beyond its reach, the Darkness in their hold snapped, the recoil echoing in the Force, the Light shifting in response to the outpouring of Darkness they had unintentionally spilled into the galaxy.

Sidious fell to his knees, gasping as he took some of the impact of the Dark Side of the Force ripping through him.

Plagueis felt it too, but it only fueled his rage.

His grand experiment had failed.

* * *

AN: Thoughts, reactions, cloud lions, or feedback, pretty please?


	17. Rite

Beta Nauze: Thank you and he says to play Star Wars music in order to get the full effect :D

KEYnote: Ahsoka is 21 years old, they have been in the past for four years now.

KEYnoteII: Right, so this chapter was supposed to have a lot more plot but a two-page scene turned to a full chapter. The much-needed fluff and furthered plot is on its way, promise but I had to give this chapter its place.

Chapter 17 - Rite of Passage

oOo

_Exactly Nine Months Later from the Grand Experiment_

oOo

Much to the disturbance of Mandalorian warriors everywhere, the Jedi culture was not that different from traditional Mandalorian culture. This was something that had to be acknowledged when the Temple of Alder was opened on Alderaan.

Something that had to be further acknowledged when Padawan Ahsoka Tano was deemed ready for both her Jedi trials and for the Verd'goten.

The Verd'goten was typically taken at age thirteen, but exceptions could always be made, such as the case of a late adoption.

Some accused the Alderaan government hypocrites for allowing a fraction of the Jedi Order to reform under their planetary government and being given access and leadership roles within Alderaan's intergalactic relations and missionary projects. Those voices failed to recognize that the Temple of Alderaan was the Jedi's way of sticking it to the larger Republic and was a formal and public acknowledgement of Alderaan's place in the galaxy.

Coruscant might have been known as the bright centre of the Republic, but Alderaan was the reality of paradise and morality.

What all planets should strive to be, to value life and be generous to all.

However, there were still critiques.

And to those critiques, Queen Breha and Senator Bail Organa had a very tongue in cheek response.

In Alderaan's largest open-air amphitheatre, they hosted the Trials and Verd'goten of Jedi Padawan and Foundling Ahsoka Tano. An event that drew a couple thousand Jedi and a few thousand more Mandalorian warriors.

It would be the largest gathering of Jedi and Mandalorians in galactic history that was not a war.

If no one was dead come dawn, it would be considered perhaps the greatest motion of peace in the Republic's history.

The Jedi Order had conceded to the grandness of the event and had added to Ahsoka's trial, the trial of Rex who was the de facto -yet untried- Mand'alor as he was the bearer of the Dark Sabre.

Today, Rex would be as tested as Ahsoka, and if they won, if he remained undefeated, the Mandalorian government was going to formally acknowledge the Mand'alor and as a Jedi Knight.

Just as Ahsoka would be given Mandalorian citizenship and be knighted.

It was a historical day.

Ahsoka let out a low breath before stepping onto the stage.

A loud cheer went up, starting from the Mandalorian side and rising from the Jedi side of the stadium, the Alderaanians clapped and whistled from the central position between the two groups, the metaphorical and physical peacemakers of the day.

Ahsoka curtsied to them, then flipped off the Mandalorian side with a hand gesture that translated to, _You can keep your wishes._ Meaning, she didn't need luck or encouragement to be victorious.

Only a lot ruder.

A laugh went out and the semi-hostile atmosphere in the Force dissipated, and Ahsoka could practically hear the collective sigh from the Jedi as the Mandalorians calmed the kriff down.

Ahsoka shot a smile to her Master across the stage, where he and Mace were already standing.

The Mandalorians had not needed a representative for this duel as defeating any Jedi in a battle was usually a rite in and of itself.

Defeating the two greatest duelists in the Order's history, aside from Master Yoda himself, well, if she and Rex pulled this off, they were quite literally going to be legends.

When Rex walked out onto the stage, the embodiment of everything contrary and yet similar in their societies, the roar from the Mandalorian was perhaps one of the loudest sounds she had ever experienced in her life.

His bright Mandalorian-steel gleamed under the bright sun and clean skies of Alderaan, her white markers painted over his helmet and the wings of the Jedi insignia spread wide over his chest plate a representation of how far they had come.

Today, Rex had gifted her with her own Beskar, her boots were black and comfortably heeled, platted with matte blue beskar, her gloves left her fingers bare and her hand free moving but they had blue plates to protect the back of her hands. He had also given her long cuffs that shielded her forearms entirely, they were also matte but the same colour of steel as his own. On one wrist was engraved, _Jedi Commander of the 501st_ in Kiros Togruta and on the other was written in Mandalorian, _We remember our brothers._

His markings, her beskar, a proclamation to the galaxy of who they were to each other.

Ahsoka had already passed her duelling tests, her meditative tests, and Rex had been training her and training alongside her under Master Dooku so that despite his lack of Force connection, he was probably the scariest Mandalorian Warrior in history.

You know, if you discounted the fact that if he passed today, he would be the head crechemaster of the Alder Jedi as many of them had already started calling themselves.

Because despite the true centralizing of the Jedi Order, the greater history, and even their deeper history, reflected more individualist pursuits and more branches of philosophies.

They were, in the end, a people of varied backgrounds, and having always been encouraged to maintain some cultural relation to their places of birth or species, it was more natural for them to be spread across the galaxy, more natural for there to be preferences.

It was the true strength of the Jedi that no matter how different, how physically apart they were, they were still and would always be a connected people.

Through the Force, all living things were entangled and it was to that life the Force called the Jedi to serve.

Master Yoda had retired shortly after Obi-Wan's funeral, becoming a full time crechemaster and resident troll.

Ahsoka didn't think anyone had ever appreciated how much time the Council business had taken from Yoda until Yoda started showing up on the Senate floor.

Because lo-and-behold, it turned out the Jedi did actually have a seat in the Senate, they just couldn't actually vote.

Thus some nights, especially when the Senate was trapped in long wearisome debates that had more to do with petty greed than serving the Republic, Yoda would take the opportunity to speak.

Ahsoka had been raised in the Temple, she had heard Yoda tell bedtime stories before.

She remembered falling asleep, letting the little green Masters odd grammatical use and mind-boggling metaphors pass over her like a song.

Same said bedtime stories had a completely different effect on politicians.

As they tried to decipher the metaphors and messages of the stories and tried to bend it to their own purpose, only for Yoda to laugh and ask, "Oh! So sure are you, the message that is?"

It was common practice to watch these meetings either live or replayed at dinner in the mess halls and everyone got a good laugh, especially when Senators got overly invested in the metaphors or angry because they simply couldn't follow.

Yoda being Yoda, never gave a straight answer leaving Senators miffed long after the Senate sessions had closed.

It was almost always the case that Yoda was able to derail the petty debates and allow the moralistic policies won out because, shockingly, moral policies were usually based on facts and not elaborate technicalities.

For Ahsoka and Rex, whose lives had been completely ruled by the folly of the Senate, it felt like true karmic payback.

Grandmaster Tahl stepped forward from where she would be judging the trial along with the High Council, Master Qui-Gon, Queen Breha and Senator Bail Organa, Mandalorain Maas, Duke Kryze and his three children, and Cody.

Ahsoka swallowed her heart as she caught Cody's gaze, feeling his eyes on her despite the helmet.

It was the first time she had seen him since he left.

She was glad he was here, glad he still wore the Jedi insignia.

She felt Rex's shoulders relax as he exchanged a soundless greeting with his brother.

"Today we gather for the Trials of Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Warrior Rex," Tahl spoke, her voice clear and beautiful as it was amplified throughout the large white marble outdoor theatre. "As well as Foundling Tano's official Verd'goten and the proving of Rex's title as the Mand'alor."

Cheers and applause went up.

"No one here can deny that the Jedi and the Mandalorians have had a turbulent history. As historically these rites of passage are taken individually, let this ceremony represent something bigger than two individuals, let it be the trial of two peoples."

At these words there was no cheering as the crowd absorbed the true gravity of the moment.

The first wielder of the Dark Sabre had been a Force sensitive and raised among the Jedi.

He had left the Jedi Order to become a leader on Mandalore.

Rex, however, was not a Force sensitive, just enough of a badass to keep up with their Jedi-kin. He had joined and remained in the Order because of Ahsoka, for his foundling, his daughter and sister-in-arms, and what was more, the Jedi had welcomed him and respected him with both their teachings and appointing him, not as a glorified assassin or weapon, but as a protector of their younglings.

Rex had come from war, but he fought for his children.

It was the noblest of occupations among the Mandalorians and the Jedi.

Ahsoka was not blind to the fact that Rex could very likely be shaping the cultural movements of their two peoples for thousands of years to come.

Tahl continued, "Grandmaster Mace Windu is the acknowledged duelling champion of the Coruscanti Temple as Master Dooku, teacher of both Padawan Tano and Rex, is the acknowledged duelling champion of the Alder Jedi. Both of these men trained under Grandmaster Yoda, so make no mistake, this is not a normal trial, nor are the odds in the favour of the Padawan, no matter how skilled, and a non-Force sensitive, especially with Master Dooku knowing both individual's strengths and weaknesses. Only working together can Padawan Tano and the Mand'alor win this duel."

Ahsoka let out a steadying breath, letting the Force envelop her and Rex, he bumped her elbow.

Tahl was right.

Master Windu was younger and more dangerous but Dooku knew them, and being the type of duelist he was, he would capitalize on every advantage.

Especially in a real fight.

Mace and Dooku had warned them if the opportunity to destroy their lightsabres arose they would take it.

Theoretically, Ahsoka could have taken Dooku, considering she had almost killed him at seventeen, but Dooku had just been playing then.

He wouldn't be playing today.

She was also certain that she couldn't beat Mace.

Obi-Wan had but that's when Mace had been two decades older than he was now.

Mace was at his prime and he and Dooku had been training together for a few weeks preparing for today.

Tahl might have been nice, phrasing it as if they expected to pass through victory but she was also very correct in that the odds were not in their favour.

On the other hand, however, Ahsoka had Rex. And unlike Dooku and Mace, Ahsoka and Rex were a true team.

Tahl took her seat as Senator Bail Organa, Viceroy of Alderaan, stood to speak and give his own speech.

Turning her head to look at Rex, he wasn't that much taller than her anymore, Ahsoka said in a low voice that wouldn't carry, "In the words of Skyguy."

"When you fight," Rex answered.

" _Win,_ " they said in unison.

After Bail sat, Cody stood and said in an ancient Mandalorian phrase, " _So let us make peace by waging war!"_

The Mandalorians cheered, and Ahsoka saw Heiress Satine Kryze shake her head at Cody, though she was smiling.

Ahsoka and Rex walked forward to greet Mace and Dooku.

They bowed to each other, and then the sound of five lightsabres igniting filled the hushed amphitheatre.

Ahsoka felt as if an orchestra should be accompanying this duel.

She nearly jumped as the first note strummed over a stringed instrument in the pit behind the stage as Mace took the first step forward.

 _Right,_ she thought, steadying herself, deepening her connection to the Force with each breath, _This is Alderaan, of course there would be an -actual- orchestra._

She thought the music would be distracting, but the sounds blended into the Force as she launched herself forward at Mace and kept her shields up around herself and Rex.

If she dropped that protection, Dooku was going to toss him off the stage.

If Dooku and Mace lost this fight to a junior Jedi and Mandalorian, they were never going to live it down.

They were not going to play fair.

Which was fine, because neither she or Rex had any such intentions either.

Mace's form was unlike anything she had ever fought before, it was closest to Ataru which as one of her forms gave him the advantage as the senior duellist. Vapaad was also a form designed to redirect aggression which worked well against her other form, Djem So.

But Ahsoka was a war veteran and had parried with Asajj Ventress when she had been only fourteen.

She was no longer fourteen.

Ahsoka drew on the Force, allowing it to tell her where she and her blades needed to be, letting all the forms she had ever been introduced to, Makashi, Ataru, Djem So, and Soresu bleed into each other.

And it was the Soresu movements that threw Mace a bit, having expected her to use the wider motions of Ataru and Djem So, only to be greeted with tight efficient movements of Soresu that had been nurtured by the Makashi Master.

Ahsoka might never be a Master of any single form, but that wasn't her strength as a duellist, her strengths were her uniqueness, her two blades, and her predatory instincts that had she been raised in peacetimes would have been subdued, but as a Jedi Commander, had been her saving grace.

Kill or be killed.

Allow no injury.

Stealth and hunger.

She hunted Mace across the stage, not as if she were a fellow Jedi, but as if to fail would mean her own death.

It wasn't anger, it wasn't revenge, or any type of true malevolence. She let that part of her unfurl, let the monster inside her grow wings within the Force.

The Light embraced her, and joy and adrenaline and sheer pleasure of the hunt enveloped her. The Force was with them, she gave it the joy she felt and it gave her light, gave her feet wings as she lept and dodged and parried.

A blur of purple against slashes of green and gold, meeting his every blow with her own.

She felt Rex shift, his intent clear in the Force.

She dove toward Mace, he raised his blade in defensive motion as she soared past him, her blades clashing down on Dooku's blade as she crossed the distance, Rex spinning in a dance to guard her, Mace quickly changed his defence to offence.

But that half motion cost him the opportunity to attack her as Rex's white veined Darksabre caught that purple streak.

Her Master was quick to recover and was pushing her back until she and Rex pressed together.

Dooku's brown eyes were alight with pride and excitement, and that vindictive streak of his that promised to kick her ass at the slightest mistake.

He was always such a kriffing perfectionist.

Mace and Dooku had them surrounded, cornered in a sense against each other, which given their forms, not being able to retreat from either was a bit more than problematic.

Ahsoka almost rolled her eyes as she picked up on the dramatic bridge the orchestra had fallen into.

She took a half second to catch her breath, to refocus and intune not just to the Force and her shields, but let her awareness include Rex's body and mental intentions.

Dooku and Mace surged on their advantage, expecting to be able to have and keep the upper hand.

Except, even Dooku, despite all the missions they had been assigned and worked together, didn't know the full extent of her and Rex's combined skill sets.

They had faced armies together, they had followed Anakin Skywalker into certain death, and they had survived it all.

Rex wasn't Force sensitive, but he didn't need to be to trust the Force; to trust her.

Mace thought that Rex would be restrained in his motions because of his care of her. But Rex was in that moment an extension of her and he didn't fear for her, trusting her to move out of his way. He wielded the Dark Sabre not like a Jedi, but like a man who clawed his way through every impossible odds.

Rex and his batchmates had been born blonde, Rex had been the only one left when the war started.

Rex had been one of three million men, and he made himself irreplaceable, and against every odds, surpassed the Kaminoins impossible standards to become a ranking officer.

Of all the clones Ahsoka had ever met, of all the officers she had seen or heard of, Rex was the only one with a visible genetic variation.

Compared to that, Mace was a sheltered man of privilege.

Rex held his ground against Mace's every movement, and with the speed that should have been impossible without assistance from the Force, Rex matched him.

Dooku found a similar problem against her, with the added variable of her moving to Rex's beats.

Ordinarily, it should have given Dooku the advantage if he could simply time Rex's motions to where she would need to be, but her shields were preventing him and Mace the full ability to predict Rex's motions in the Force, taking away the millisecond advanced warning before the physical action itself began.

There was also the factor that as well as Dooku knew her, she and Rex had figured him out too.

They had to, because once upon a time, he had been a true enemy, and no matter how much she had come to care for and respect him now, she never forgot what and who he was capable of being.

Rex booted her with his butt and she used the slight momentum to flip over his shoulder without hesitation, then using the back of his shoulder as he turned to catch blue with black ribboned with white, to spin fully at Mace, getting inside his long reach.

No Jedi and very few Mandalians would attempt a brawl inside of a sabre fight.

But Rex hadn't raised her to be a sane person.

She kicked at Mace's instep while also attempting to knee the side of his knee.

Mace let out a surprised grunt as he caught her left hand, her longer blade blocked by his purple.

It left them facing each other, and it should have been in the bag for him, he had her wrist after all.

She smiled, flashing her canines at him. Mace's dark eyes widened as she pressed forward toward him bringing her legs up.

He couldn't cut downward with his sabre without maiming her, but even if he had been willing to do that, he would have put himself in danger of being impaled on her descending hands.

Mace did the safest thing and extinguished his blade as he dropped it to try and control her hand as he rolled back to make her kicks useless as he altered the momentum.

She let him, focusing on keeping her right hand free as he rolled them, taking control of her shorter sabre and pinning her.

She would have been in trouble even as she prepared to launch him off her.

There was no physical way for her to overpower Mace Windu when he too had the Force enhancing his strength and speed.

Too bad for Mace she had Rex, whose Beskar booted foot nearly concussed his bald head. As Mace bent forward to dodge, Ahsoka bucked, throwing the Master as she twisted on her front, between Rex's legs, and rose in time to crossguard Dooku's slash at her on her knees.

Her green sabre and Mace's purple sabre, which she had successfully gotten to as came off the ground, was now crackling as Dooku pressed down.

Only to be forced to retreat as Rex attacked him.

Ahsoka leapt back as if she were a leaf caught in the breeze of the Force.

As she landed softly on the balls of her feet, she grinned madly at Mace who had her short sabre.

Ahsoka had used others' lightsabres before, Anakin's and Obi-Wan's most notably, she was accustomed to the differences, and honestly, she had outgrown her own sabres, Mace's purple blade fit her palm better even though it hadn't been designed for a reverse grip.

Mace looked caught between a scowl and being impressed as he tested the shorter lightsabre that was not particularly comfortable for a frontal guard and most definitely was too small for his hand.

Her smile only sharpened as she saw him realize that while he could make it work, he was not accustomed or practised with the foreign grip.

She didn't give him more time to think on it as she attacked him.

He was taller than her, but she had longer legs, and she attacked him with all the brutality that Cody and Rex had trained into her.

The crescendo of the music just added to the fun.

The moment Mace got enough of a handle on the new length of sabre to go back to his usual defence, which was really just an offence that was better than everyone else's, she fell back to Soresu.

Ahsoka backtracked as quickly as she could, making Mace run to catch up to her, as he was not foolish enough to try to use the short sabre as a way to breach the growing space between them.

Had she been partnered with anyone else, what they did next wouldn't have been possible.

Mainly because no one else would have been crazy enough or stupid enough to do it.

Ahsoka raised a leg to give her momentum for a classic spin kick that was one of the most basic, most powerful, and most dangerous of the Ataru's katas.

It was powerful, because it was a full body strike that, with the addition of the Force, was incredibly hard to combat.

Except for the fact that it left you open on almost all sides during and at the moment of the downward strike.

Which is why she became the motion at Rex's side, leaping over his head as he repelled Dooku by using a cord projectile that Dooku had to hop to keep his legs from being trapped in while Rex blocked Mace from attacking her.

Her Master had just enough time to guard as she pulled on her own physical strength and opened herself as wide as she could to Force.

Dooku grunted as she roared, his knees buckling before he had to retreat as she attacked him the way Anakin would have.

Blue, purple, green, blue, purple, green, blue, purple, green.

Dooku had taught her to be efficient to reserve her strength, which was basically the opposite of Ataru which relied on channelling the Force, and Djem So was the most physically tasking form, requiring bodily strength and training more so than on the Force itself.

She had pushed herself through both, had made herself the weapon, made herself something that was not invincible but someone who you could not beat if you weren't serious, if you did not mean to kill her.

Dooku didn't want to kill her, nor was he used to her having two long blades.

This duel had also dragged on longer than she thought Dooku or Mace had anticipated. She knew she was close to her own limits. Sweat sheened her skin, made the Alderaan breeze sweet and welcomed against her heated body, as the Force burned in her senses. The Light that filled her would burn long after she was able to fuel it.

But it didn't matter.

Because in war, it didn't matter if you were tired.

She had a brief thought for the time she had been hunted in a dense jungle, lost Padawans counting on her.

On the girl who died because of her.

Ahsoka would not fail, because she could not.

Dooku grunted with each blow he blocked as she gave voice to her own exertion.

He searched for her opening and he saw them, but she moved too quickly to allow him to act on them. She saw his brown eyes widen in worry, though she wasn't sure if it was for himself or for her as she felt her shields waver around Rex.

She focused on the Force, easing back from the offensive to get closer to Rex.

She was too close to her limits to beat Dooku on her own, and she refused to lose to him on a slight misstep, because that was all it would take for this duel to be over.

_The Force will be with you; Always._

Ahsoka gestured in sign as soon as she entered Rex's peripheral vision.

They moved like electricity sparking between one place and another as she let go of her shields on them both, allowing her emotions to broadcast loudly as she struck like an asp at Mace, cleaving her own golden sabre in his hand with its green twin.

In the same breadth of time, she felt more than saw Rex overpower Dooku, allowing that blue blade to scratch harmlessly against his Beskar.

Rex didn't dawdle, knowing full well that it would be mere moments for Dooku to take advantage of the spaces between the plates.

Moments Rex didn't give him as he brought his knee up into Dooku's stomach and brought his fist around in a fully connected punch.

Dooku fell to the stage with a thud, his sabre falling from his hand as he gasped for breath, too dazed to have any defence against the black marbled plasma sword pointed at his throat as Ahsoka completed her own motions. Her blade hovered above Mace's heart and his own violet blade hummed beneath his chin.

The music finished its last dramatic sweep and left them in that silence that was filled with the thrumming of her own heart and the harsh breaths she was fighting to keep even.

The amphitheatre was quiet for a count of five and then the audience collectively lost their minds and the sounds that surrounded her were like the crashing of the ocean against a cliffside.

Mace smiled at her, and she extinguished the blades offering him back his.

He took it and bowed deeply to her, she hurried to do the same. Her head swam as she raised back up, nonetheless, she was grinning as Mace said, "Excellent, Knight Tano, most excellent, your Masters would be most proud."

She blinked back tears at that, feeling stretched out and vulnerable at that moment. Rex came to her side giving her a one armed hug, "Aye, as would the vode."

She smirked up at him, "Are you like a king now, oh great Mand'alor?"

He took off his helmet, his face blotchy and sweaty despite his dark skin, "It's crachemaster, to you, little Mandalorian."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed, causing her to laugh with him.

She felt her Master's hand on her shoulder, and she turned a smile on him as he smiled down, "I could not be more proud of you, Ahsoka."

Her heart hurt, not realizing how much those words from him would matter to her until that moment.

She let go of Rex's waist to hug Dooku around the middle, "Thank you, Master."

He hugged her back and she didn't hear what he said next because the exhaustion caught up to her at the exact moment an old bond burst to life like a supernova into the darkness she fell into.

She didn't fight it, even if a part of her knew she would be embarrassed for passing out in front of a crowd. She didn't fight it because she didn't wish for this dream to falter, for the guiding light of a newborn star to fade as the Force itself shifted.

 _A historical day, indeed,_ she almost heard Master Kenobi snark as Ahsoka slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

AN: That is the Legends reason we got Anakin (And the only written explanation we have). Thoughts, reactions, sparrows, or feedback, pretty please?


	18. Rafiki

KEYnote: So, last chapter I said four years, but it was closer to five with the additional months. Short chapter but I have big plans for the rest of this story.

Thank you, Nauze!a

Chapter 18 - Rafiki (This is basically an epilogue for Part I and a prologue for Part II)

Ahsoka woke up with her head throbbing and several Masters, Rex, and Cody nearby.

Dooku leaned over her, crossing his arms, “What is the lesson we learned today, Padawan Tano?” 

She leaned back against the sofa she was on, “That Mace isn’t as good at hand to hand as he thinks he is.”

Rex, Rael, Sifo-Dyas, Qui-Gon, Plo, and Tahl laughed, even Master Yoda chuckled.

Dooku’s lips twitched, even though he himself was sporting a bruised jawline, though it had obviously been treated as there was no swelling.

“Brat,” Mace said with a shake of the head.

Cody offered Ahsoka a hand up, “Come on, little one, ordinarily, I’d tell you to sleep but not tonight.

Rex grinned, “There’s a party and the public ceremony got a little delayed by your nap.”

“The only reason you’re standing, Mando,” Mace said, “Is because she shielded you.”

Rex smiled wider, “I may not be able to float crap like a space wizard, but Ahsoka and Dooku have taught me enough that I am not wholly defenceless.”

Cody smirked, “I learned it from Kenobi years before you did.”

Ahsoka had taken his hand was clinging to it, hating the shadows in his brown eyes as he said Obi-Wan’s name.

They had had very little communication in his time away, and she could feel the shadows growing around him.

“You’re leaving again, aren’t you?” she found herself accusing, the laughter in the room dying.

Cody did not shy away from her as he met her gaze and said in a tone that left no room for debate, “Yes.”

She swallowed her emotions, before spinning them off into the Force as she asked, “One more day. Can you stay just one more day, please?”

She didn’t want to say goodbye tonight, she never wanted to see him walk away again, but she wanted today to be free from shadows.

Well, aside from the void that was left by their number being one short.

But Cody nodded, pulling her to her feet and steadying her with a hand on her shoulder, “Alright, Commander.”

“Asajj and the others have missed you terribly,” Rex said, leaving unsaid but not unfelt, _We’ve missed you terribly._

Cody dipped his head, “How has she been otherwise?”

“Happy,” Rex said, “She is far from the assassin and lost one we once encountered.”

Ahsoka was distracted enough that she almost forgot what she had sensed when she passed out, “Did anyone else feel the disturbance in the Force?”

All of the Masters looked at her, and it was Plo who said, “Like a star being born?”

She nodded.

Tahl snorted, “We all felt it.”

Ahsoka closed her eyes and opened herself to the Force, she was tired, but the Light of her once Master sang to her like the distant call of an ocean.

It felt different, but all so familiar.

She opened her eyes, and met Rex’s gaze as she said, “I know where the Skywalkers are.”

Cody sighed, “Let me guess, Zygerria?”

Rex’s expression pinched and Ahsoka shuddered, but nodded, “Right on the credits.”

Qui-Gon folded his arms, “Well, I feel this excellent opportunity to show the galaxy what the Jedi have become.”

“What we are becoming,” Tahl said.

Dooku shook his head, “No, we are not going tonight. We need to plan and you two,” he gestured to Rex and Ahsoka, “both need and deserve to celebrate. You are not missing your own knightings to go start a war.”

“But-” Ahsoka protested, not wanting to leave Skyguy or his mother in bondage a moment longer than necessary.

“He’s right,” Tahl said, “tonight there is one of the largest parties in the galaxy going on between the Jedi and the Mandalorians.”

“And you burned yourself out,” Cody added, “We will need more than a day to plan.”

She stared at him, “But you said you were leaving.”

Cody shook his head, “Skywalker was Obi-Wan’s Padawan and your Master, I will not abandon either of you.”

She opened her mouth to argue but Rex stepped between them, putting an arm around either of their shoulders, “Then it’s settled. Party, hangover, then the Mandalorians and the Jedi will go to war with a budding slave Empire.”

Bail Organa walked into the room then and looked at them all, he sighed, “I always said I would never allow an army onto our planet, as I also said I would never condone a war. It seems I have been wrong on two counts this day.”

Qui-Gon smiled at him, “The difference is, my friend, that it is your choice and not one thrust upon you.”

Bail inclined his head but then gestured for them to follow, “Come, our people await.”

* * *

_Five Days Later - Zygerria_

* * *

Ahsoka felt a lot safer now then she had when she was younger, though, she was still dressed as a slave.

Except that this time, her ‘jewellery’ was still the beskar Rex had given her that looked less like armour with her wearing the scant outfit she had picked out.

She looked like a Mandalorian’s wet dream.

Rex and Cody had snapped at every single warrior that had looked at her too long on the flight over.

But it was somewhat overkill because even though she was a fully-fledged Knight now, the look on Dooku’s face would haunt people’s darkest nightmares.

Rex had been forced to leave his own armour behind and had opted to join her in playing object.

They followed behind Dooku in his finery, looking like a king among presents especially beside Rael who was dressed to play toadie and slave-merchant.

He kept up steady silky commentary about random statics and asking Dooku what he was looking for and if he was hoping to sell Rex and Ahsoka.

Unlike last time, no one stopped them, no guard doubted their validity as they stepped into the slave market.

Ahsoka had her senses open and it hurt to feel the pain and fear and underlying evil here. The planet itself seemed to cry out in despair as slaves were broken and trained as they mined the crust.

It took them three hours of stepping through streets, laden with auction blocks and sellers stepping in their way to present their ‘products’.

Rael did a nice job of showing them off as if he truly were a competitor acting as a realtor for Dooku.

Dancing out of the way of pawing hands ended up being easier for her than Rex, who looked positively murderous as they finally came to a tent that Ahsoka sensed her baby-Master in.

The slaver to this stall scurred to his feet, his cat ears flickering as he bowed to Dooku, “Me Lord, I am honoured that you cho-”

“What is it that you offer?” Dooku asked so coldly the Zygerria flinched back from him.

Stuttering, he said, “Females, human females. Dancers, cooks, and maids.” he pulled back a curtain and the women clad in less than Ahsoka, stood but huddled together. “Perhaps not the fairest,” he admitted, “But they are skilled, intelligent but highly obedient. I can promise all of these would serve you well.”

Ahsoka’s gut churned as the women turned their eyes down, she felt their resignation like a weight on her heart.

“He is looking for a wetnurse for his wife,” Rael said, stepping forward, “The others we’ve looked at this day are too old or too stupid to be trusted with an heir to a planet.”

The women tensed, stiffening as they pressed closer together. The Zygerrian nodded rapidly stepping toward the five women and pushing them aside to reveal a young dark-haired woman curled in a corner where she had been hiding between boxes and blankets.

The fear in her dark eyes as the slaver grabbed her arm and yanked her up stole Ahsoka’s breathe.

The slaver tore the bundle from the woman’s hand as she flailed and screamed- “No, please!”

Ahsoka stepped between the two Master Jedi and snatched the baby out of the man’s rough grasp.

The Zygerria let go of Shmi Skywalker to backhand Ahsoka who was trying to settle the infant safely in her arms.

The scuffle drew attention, and with a single smooth motion, Master Dooku drew a blaster from his side and shot the slaver through the head.

Silence filled the area.

But Shmi Skywalker ignored the body as she dropped to her knees in front of Dooku, her gaze never leaving Ahsoka, as she begged, “Please, Master, I will do anything you ask, but please do not take my child-”

“What’s all this then?” a guard asked as he and his partner stepped up, their helmets hiding the expression of their ears.

Dooku ignored Shmi, “He struck my slave.” 

Rael stepped forward as he gestured to Ahsoka and then to the woman at his feet. “A Togruta is worth a thousand of these rats. I demand recompense for the damages done to my Lord’s property.”

The Zygerria nodded, as if the death of one of their own was understandably not enough, “Take his wears, free of charge. The Queen herself does not tolerate such behaviour to our noble patrons. We hope the rest of your visit is more enjoyable.”

Dooku nodded once, as he bent to take Shmi by the chin.

There were tears on her face but she wasn’t actively crying as she let herself be directed by Dooku’s hold, coming to her feet with surprising grace.

Rael asked, “Their slave chips?”

The guard sniffed, “These are Zygerria raised slaves, they don’t have chips.”

Dooku tilted Shmi's head as if he were actually checking her over.

“Please,” she whispered, “please, I will do anything you wish, just please, let me keep my baby.”

Ahsoka was rocking the child in her arms, trying to place the odd familiarity but difference she felt from the child.

It was definitely Anakin’s power she felt, but though she recognized the Force signature, it almost felt as if...

Dooku leaned in close to Shmi and whispered in her ear, “You and your babe are free.”

The Zygerria guard tensed as they drew their weapons and Dooku pulled Shmi against his side as Ahsoka called her own sabre to her hand. Rael tossed Rex his sabre as they faced outward.

The Zygerria guard smiled even as they spat, “You are outnumbered, Jedi scum.”

“Are we really?” Ahsoka asked, cradling the infant to her chest, the baby settled against her chest, his head resting on one of her montrals.

Which is when about four thousand cloaked figures stepped out behind buildings and tents as if materializing from thin air.

A stillness overcame the ruckus market.

The guard who had spoken was wide-eyed as he realized what was happening, “You won’t be able to take the palace.”

But as he spoke, an armada of Jedi and Mandalorian ships became visible.

One of the slavers drew a weapon on one of their slaves.

The market was filled by the sound of nearly four thousand lightsabres igniting.

It was overkill in the extreme, this many Jedi could have taken out armies.

But their leaders had decided that some points needed to be made to the wider galaxy.

They were not the Senate’s dogs, they could mobilize on their own accord.

With the Mandalorians, they had allies who were more warriors than peacekeepers.

They Jedi had morals the exceeded the Republic’s; they were not tolerant of slavery.

But for today, the excess numbers came from the very simple purpose of reducing the likelihood of anyone dying unnecessarily. 

The Zygerrians knew that they could use the slaves as flesh shields, they didn’t give them the chance.

Needless to say, the Zygerrrians surrendered that day.

By the time they got to the ship, Shmi and her friends were crying and were chanting ‘thank you, thank you, thank you,’ as Alderaan volunteers went through roasters, trying to figure out who had a home and family to return to and on which planets, as well as who needed a new home.

Shmi was one of the later groups, and Ahsoka and Rex stuck close to her side as the long hours passed.

Winning had been a matter of minutes, actually seizing control of the planet took a bit longer, as did evacuating everyone out of the mines and various prisons.

“Do you or the baby need anything?” Ahsoka asked when Shmi finally took a breath.

She shook her head, “You’ve given us more-”

“Anything including water or food?” Rex asked, they had already given most of the slaves brown Jedi robes that fit almost everyone.

Shmi hesitated and asked softly, “Water, please?”

“How old is your son?” Ahsoka asked after Shmi handed the canteen of water back to Cody.

Shmi smiled, that proud smile so many mothers had when their babies were the centre of their world, “Three days. And not a son, she’s my little angel.”

Ahsoka blinked as she tried to process that.

“Would you like to hold her?” Shmi asked, “Thank you for taking her from that monster, I was so afraid-” she cleared her throat, “he was not a gentle handler.”

Ahsoka opened her arms as repeated, “A girl?” As she finally got a good look at the baby’s face.

Infants, generally speaking, look like infants, especially the human ones, but the curve of the nose and the knowledge that this Chosen One was, in fact, female.

“Padme?” she whispered.

“No way,” Rex breathed.

Ahsoka's eyes were huge, it was Padme, Padme Nabarrie Amidala reborn as the Chosen One.

It’s why Ahsoka recognized the power and the signature but not Anakin’s signature.

Senator Amidala’s signature.

Shmi shook her head, “That’s a pretty name, but no, her name is Anikka Skywalker.”

Ahsoka’s first thought was picturing Padme Amidala as Jedi Knight.

Her second thought of how relieved Obi-Wan would have been.

Padme would have made an excellent Jedi.

Her next thought was… “Rex?”

“On it,” he said already on the holonet.

Cody leaned into Rex to look over his shoulder, a smile growing.

And then something happened that she didn’t expect to see from Cody since Obi-Wan’s passing on.

Cody threw his head back and laughed.

Rex was smiling as he tapped and the holo-image appeared of a little boy, the name underneath read, _Pamir Nabarrie_ , his date of birth corresponding with the date that they had all travelled back in time to.

Ahsoka laughed, the Force glowing around them all as they realized how the Force had changed them, how they had changed the Force.

Padme- _Anikka_ opened her still baby-blue eyes and Ahsoka cradled her close, “Oh, you are going to be loved by all, little queen.”

Shmi leaned into Ahsoka’s shoulder, her smile brilliant as she touched her baby’s cheek, “That’s right, my little Ani, you and I are going to live in the Jedi Temple on Alderaan, and you be free to be whoever you choose to.”

_As well as the galaxy’s most powerful Force user,_ Ahsoka added mentally as she caught Rex’s smile.

As much as Anakin had liked being powerful, they all knew it was an equal measure burden as a blessing. Ahsoka had been blind to his struggles with his past, with his attempts to live up to the expectations of being the Chosen One while being his own person. Padme, on the other hand, had been like Obi-Wan. She had held herself to the highest standards and had used all her gifts to lift up other people.

Skywalker or Amidala, it seemed their two souls had been interconnected, and in this reality, both were going to have loving families with every opportunity to be who they wanted to be.

* * *

_Nine Years Later - Alderaan 32 BBY - Temple of the Alder Jedi_

* * *

Tahl was dreaming, which was always easy to tell because she could see the sky above her, the dense foliage of the Temple gardens. She was sitting in the grass, an earthen teacup in her hands and across from her, sat a man with ginger-blonde hair and beard, dressed in soft creme robes. He also was drinking tea and though he was not the Padawan she had last seen so long ago, she recognized him immediately.

He was exactly as she had imagined him; Master Kenobi.

"I miss you so much," she said.

He smiled at her and reached out to touch her cheek gently, "Then why don’t you come and find me? I’ve been asleep long enough, don’t you think?"

She stared at him, "Excuse me?"

His smile widened, "I'll have you know, Grandmaster Tahl, I'm a hard man to kill."

"It's been ten years, Obi-Wan!"

His smile faded, "There's only so much I can do while unconscious, Tahl. It took me years to learn how to project myself like this. Even longer to make myself be heard."

"Where are you?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but I know who has me. Hugo Damask II is Darth Plagueis, the Sith Lord we have been looking for,” Obi-Wan said. “I figured it out that day but, well, in my defence, getting shot in the back somewhat altered my priorities."

"You couldn’t have survived that, not without help, not the explosion," Tahl argued.

He grinned, "I faked my death once you know, but I swear I didn’t do it on purpose this time. And I did not betray you. He couldn’t break me."

"What has he done to you?"

He leaned in to kiss her cheek and whispered in her ear, “Come and see.”

She got a brief vision of a moon, a lab, two large glowing bubbles holding a bith and a man.

A Sith and a Jedi.

Dragonflies caught in raison.

“Obi-Wan,” she breathed, and she felt his light brush hers in the Force before retreating.

“Do not underestimate him, Tahl, whatever you do, do not underestimate him. He has learned how to skate death in the Force.”

“Why me and not Qui-Gon or Ahsoka? Why come to me?” she asked, turning to meet his clear blue eyes.

He cupped her face in his hands as he said, “He was distracted today. But he is beyond intelligent, Tahl, he would sense the Force bonds he severed reforming. -I must go.”

The dream broke abruptly and she woke with a gasp. Qui-Gon jolted awake beside her.

“Tahl?” he asked, his voice was rough and deep with concern and sleep, “What's wrong?”

She was crying as she reached for him, her heart thundering in her chest.

“Tahl,” Qui-Gon demanded.

She took in a shaky breath before saying, “He’s alive.”

“Who?”

She clung to him, “Obi-Wan, he’s alive.”

She heard the lights flash on as he took her by the shoulders, pushing her back so he could see her face.

“What?”

“Obi-Wan, he reached out to me. _He’s alive_ , Qui-Gon, I felt him, it was him. He is alive!”

Tears were streaming down her face as happiness and relief flooded her.

Qui-Gon, however, was angry, “He- he reached out to you? How? Where the hell has he been!?”

She smiled past the tears, “He’s been sleeping.”

* * *

Rafiki scene where he’s like: "He’s alive? He’s alive! *beards Simba* It is time."

And Obi-Wan gets a beard too! :D 

* * *

Darth Plagueis Novel: Plagueis kept Darth Venamis alive and asleep for decades and could bring him back and forth between life and death. 

And again, Sidious and Plagueis playing god was bitch slapped by the Force being like, Ah heeeell, _no_ ; you want life I'll show what a real all-encompassing life-energy-deity-thing can do, poof, surprise! Mother Mary meet Shmi who gives life to Darth Vader. Sidious definitely came out on top in that roll out.

* * *

AN: Comments, reactions, lion cubs, or feedback, pretty please?


	19. Wick

**WARNING** : This story ends in _Phantom Menace_ , you will meet nine-year-old Padme/Anikka and fourteen-year-old Anakin/Pamir but they will not meet each other by then. HOWEVER, I am going to give a few chapters/oneshots of their lives together, first meeting, yada yada, after this story finishes.

So no bitching.

Because Padme as the Chosen One becomes Rey Palpatine which if you would like to read is: _The Queen Does Not Need to Know_. Where I gave Rey an actual personality and backstory.

* * *

AN: Dudes, I wrote a new character, you are going to love, _nay_ , adore him. Thank you, Nauze!

Chapter 18 - John Wick

Initiate Oliver Wren felt as if his heart was going to explode from his chest. Coruscant was huge, no larger than huge, humongous.

It was nothing at all like the Concordia Moon of the Mandalore System.

But then the Jetti Temple of Concordia wasn’t much like the other Temples in the galaxy either.

Of the forty-eight temples, Concordia had the most in common, or rather, they had the best relations with the Alder Jedi. Mostly due to Crechemaster Rex who himself was a Mandalorian. He made periodic visits to the Concordia Temple.

They were considered different even in comparison to the Alder Jedi, who were known as Mavericks for their public marriages and their penchant of following, or at least actively teaching, the Living Force that two decades ago was almost solely practised by the AgriCorps.

The Concordia Temple was known less for making Jedi and more for cultivating Force Sensitives who were from or came to the Mandalore system.

Younglings could only be initiated at age five and were encouraged to go their own way at age thirteen, whether that meant becoming a Mandalorian or joining some part of the wider Jedi Order. Most of those temples had taken families into the Order either working for the Temple grounds directly or for the Corps, and some of the temples functioned like orphanages, raising younglings who had and didn’t have Force sensitivity side by side. But the Concordia Temple was more like a school.

Concordia Temple was very small and had too few Masters and Knights for Padawans to be accurately matched.

Oliver, or Olives, as his friends called him, knew he was breaking his family’s hearts by choosing to attend the Initiate Trials on Coruscant with the hope of being chosen by a Master.

Olives let out a breath, his older sister Ursa had been against this, had been furious with him when he continued his studies at the Temple after their parents had been killed on Galidraan.

He was perfectly aware that there were different kinds of Mandalorians in the galaxy, just as there were different types of Jedi.

But Ursa was, in his opinion, a warmonger.

In the Temple, he had been taught that with power came responsibility.

His sister was more along the lines of thinking that might makes right.

He loved her, but he could let her go, he could start his own life. He would much rather serve the Force than the Clan of Wren.

His sister who had raised him, called him a zealot.

But then she also called it cheating when he started kicking her butt in a spar.

Olives closed his eyes, and the dreams and the visions flashing in his mind.

_War._

_Brothers._

_Death._

_Droids._

_Streaks of light leading them into battle._

_A blaster in his hand._

His hand tightened around his lightsabre. He was going to be his own person.

“Initiate Oliver Wren,” his eyes snapped open as Grandmaster Windu called, “Initiate Luminara Unduli.”

* * *

Ahsoka grinned at Quin who, like her, was here to choose a Padawan.

He had already asked Aalya yesterday, though she had been allowed to compete in the opening match this morning.

Some of the novelty was gone for Ahsoka as she knew who many of the Padawans would be paired with, however, this generation and the generations behind them had nearly tripled in size.

Ahsoka hadn’t imagined that the Jedi would have been decentralized so quickly. However, the fact that most of the forty-eight temples were in the Mid and Outer Rim was not surprising, as that was where they were needed most, and it was the Seekers, Shadows, and the Sages who stepped forward to really lead those Temples, as they had been the furthest from the Council’s influence.

The Temple on Coruscant no longer even held the original archives, everything was but a copy as the originals had been moved to Alderaan.

Alderaan which had become the bane of the Senate’s existence as it was the front runner for ‘the Jedi’s disobandance’ even if the temple on Jedha and Kiros were larger.

The Kiros Temple was probably the biggest stick to the Republic as Ahsoka’s ancestral people were even a part of the Republic.

The Temple on Coruscant was used for big events, the Council, and a regular orphanage and school and hospital. All the teachers were Jedi but any student who was found to be Force sensitive enough was sent to another Temple, with their family if they had them.

What no one had really anticipated was that function turning into a refugee program for adults and families who just wanted out from the Underground.

Aside from the Council and the Temple Guard, the school was not militaristic aside from the gyms and self-defence classes. In five years, the Coruscanti Temple became known as the best orphanage in the entire galaxy, equipped to handle nearly every species.

Honestly, between the Mandalorians and Jedi, the galaxy's population of children without roofs over their heads and food in their bellies decreased significantly.

But the Initiate Trials and Padawan Trials had become a bigger deal because of it, and somewhat of a holiday.

It wasn’t necessary that Padawans be chosen on this day or like this, but it was certainly a way to catch a possible Master’s attention as well as a single place for those from varied places to gather looking for a Padawan.

Ahsoka knew it was time for her to take a Padawan, and as much as she loved little Anikka, Ahsoka didn’t think she was the best match for her.

Anikka at age five was better at mediating than Ahsoka had been at twenty-five.

Rex bumped her shoulder, “Pay attention to this one.”

Quin leaned over to see the Mando Crechemaster, “Oh, playing favourites already, Rexzie?”

Aayla watched this exchange with wide eyes, she had been raised on the Kiros and probably wasn’t used to her brash Master even if Quin had been the one to save her from a slaver when she was a youngling.

Rex shook his head, “He’s from Concordia, of course, I have a preference.”

Ahsoka grinned even if she felt her stomach twist as a boy was all earthen colours lit his blue sabre against Luminara. Luminara was a good person, but she had not been a good fit for Barriss.

But who really knew what the future held, Master Plo Koon had taken Asajj Ventress as his Padawan, so really, anything was possible.

Ahsoka was so distracted in her own thoughts that she almost missed what she was sensing as she let her senses open to the duel happening.

Around her, she felt the boisterous crowd of children and the undercurrent soothing power of the Masters and Knights with nervous energy like a ripple through it all.

She almost missed, almost didn’t place it.

She sucked in a sharp breath, she felt her eyes go wide, “That’s- that’s not possible.”

Rex leaned into her, a comforting presence at her side.

His voice was soft, his brown eyes warm as he said, “His name is Oliver Wren, he goes by Olives.”

Ahsoka fought back the tears.

Her transition from Initiate to Padawan had not been easy, nor had Anakin been an easy Master, but the GAR, the 501st had taken her in as one of their own. She had had many friends among the GAR, but her two closest confidants had always been Rex and… 

Fives.

Rex continued talking as she looked back at the boy who fought Luminara with a fixed face, serious and earnest as he moved like a warrior in the arena.

The Initiates from the Concordia were just coming of age, Yoda disapproved of their upbringing almost entirely, and of the Initiates to be chosen, which was small, one or two a year, as many of them choose to become Mandalorians with heightened senses and unique early education. This also led to them not being chosen by the old school Masters but by younger Knights who had been knighted during this time of change.

That seemed to worry the Council, a lot, but Ahsoka knew that the values instilled in these younglings counterbalanced many of their aggressive tendencies.

Mandalorians were, decidedly, aggressive, but they weren’t centreless, they didn’t blow up into fits of rage or lose control of their emotions easily, even when they were using explosives.

Plainly speaking, if you got killed by a Mandalorian, it wasn’t an accident.

All the Concordia Jedi were trained to respect their own gifts and taught that the powers they had were meant to help not hurt others.

“He’s been having nightmares of the war,” Rex said.

Ahsoka jerked, looking back at him, “What? No, we stopped-”

Rex shook his head, “No, it’s like the Force wants him to remember, remember that he was a part of something bigger once.”

Ahsoka looked back at the boy.

Rex went on, “He has his voice.”

Ahsoka blinked fast knowing exactly what he meant, not that Oliver had the voice of Jango Fett and everyone else, but that Olives spoke, used his words, as Fives had.

It’s the same way she knew the difference between her soldiers over the com without needing them to identify themselves.

Ahsoka closed her eyes, feeling Fives’ light burn familiar and bright, laced with the power of the Force that added to who he had always been.

The clones were not gone, they had been reborn, and this was proof of that.

Millions of souls, millions of stars whose lights would go on no matter what was done.

Quin touched her arm, “Hey, ‘Soka, you good?”

She blinked back the tears, squeezing Rex’s hand, “Yeah, I’m good.”

Rex whooped with the crowd as Olives disarmed Laminara, and Ahsoka could not have shaken her smile if she had even bothered to try.

* * *

Olives was trying to quiet his breathing, and fighting not to stick his tongue out as the snotty female who had called him a barbarian.

Olives was many things but lacking in discipline was not one of them.

When she regained her footing, she bowed to him and he to her.

He turned to face the crowd as Grandmaster Windu declared him the victor.

They left the arena, the Masters and Knights couldn’t approach them until midday.

He was just happy he had gotten a morning slat and not an afternoon one, feeling as if he might die if he had to wait that many hours to know whether or not he had caught anyone’s attention.

He was the only Initiate in his thirteenth year who had come to the Trials, but he chose to sit by the Alder Initiates, knowing because of Rex they wouldn’t have any preconceived notions on what someone raised by the Jedi and the Mandalorians would be non-Jedi-ish.

On the tail of that thought, he found himself searching the crowd and not the next duel.

He spotted Knight Ahsoka Tano quickly, and found her staring at him as if they sat across a table and not an arena.

Recognition searched through him, as if he had known, knew her, but maybe that was just his idolizing her, the only Jedi who had become a Mandalorian in centuries.

Crechemaster Rex, the only Mandalorian to be Knighted, maybe ever, Vizsla not counting as he had been raised as a Jedi, waved to him. 

Olives flushed, but waved back.

Rex was the Manda’lor, and yet whenever he visited the Concordia Temple, he always greeted Olives like an old friend, taking time out to help him in his training.

Olives was always honoured, and a bit embarrassed that he got so much attention from the man he dreamt of being.

Rex’s connection to the Force was practically nonexistent. But Olives had seen him lead seasoned Knights through meditations.

Almost as if the Force being so quiet for him, made him have to be better than almost anyone else.

Regardless, Olives was kinda sad that, as a Crechemaster and with his limited connection to the Force, Rex had and would refrain from taking any Padawans of his own.

Olives wasn’t conceited enough to think Knight Tano would choose him.

He was a good soldier but nothing so special that the legendary Knight Tano would choose him.

She, after all, never, at least to his knowledge, visited Mandalore.

He even knew that despite the extra training that Rex gave him, the real reason the Manda’lor visited the Mandalore System system so regularly from the Alder Temple was undoubtedly related to his recent engagement with Duchess Satine Kryze.

So Olives swallowed his hope and focused back on the duels attempting to not catch the blue-eyed gaze of a certain Togruta who felt far too much like an old friend.

* * *

Cody was pretty sure that Obi-Wan would have been horrified with how much blood he regularly washed out of his blacks.

But Obi-Wan wasn’t here, so he supposed it didn’t matter.

The Jedi had done a good job of fighting back some of the blatant atrocities in the galaxy.

But crime still turned a profit, and even if the Jedi’s population, both Force and non-Force sensitives, was growing with each passing year, there was never going to be enough of them to crush all crime.

So why did Cody think he could do it as a lone assassin?

A question Ahsoka and Rex had bombarded him with for years; it had a simple answer.

He wasn’t looking to destroy the Black Sun, he was looking for answers.

Cody pulled on his freshly laundered blacks, now that he himself was showered, tucking the kyber crystal Qui-Gon Jinn had made into a necklace for him against his skin before putting on his beskar.

He never could quite shake what had happened that day.

How it had happened.

For ten years, he had been looking to answer two questions.

Why had Obi-Wan been targeted?

And who had been targeting him?

Two questions that should have been simple enough to answer, but Black Sun was a vast organization and had more than one head and many stalking horses.

It wasn’t until today, after slaughtering a highrise of scum and villainy, that someone finally gave him an answer.

The woman who whimpered in the corner of the room drew no pity from him as she wept, the cooling blood of her bodyguards and goons.

She wasn’t the mob boss, she was the daughter of the mob boss, who, as it happened, Cody had also killed.

She freaked as he stepped out of the fresher, his armour gleaming as he walked to where he had left her.

Her hazel eyes stared at him like he was a monster.

She wasn’t wrong.

He pulled a knife and cut the strap holding the gag in her mouth, she began screaming.

Screaming for help.

“They’re all dead, sweetheart,” he told her, “There’s no one left to come and save you.”

She screamed at him then.

He let her wear herself out, and finally, she said in a hoarse voice, her pink hair cascading around her shoulders, “You will be arrested.”

He took off his bucket to raise a brow at her, “How do you figure that, Princess? You and yours have been terrorizing this planet for years. You’re a leach.”

“My father-”

“Is dead,” he said flatly. “Are you ready for our conference yet, or-” he ran the smooth edge of his dagger across her pale collarbone, “are we going to keep playing games?”

She shook, “What do you want?”

“I want to know where Obi-Wan Kenobi is,” he said.

Her lips quirked, “He’s dead, my father shot him-”

Cody put the tip of the dagger under her chin, fighting back the euphoria.

Finally, _finally_ , a lead.

Cody wouldn’t lie, he’d gone to a very dark place over the years, he’d done basically everything but drugs and sexually assaulting anyone, but he wasn’t sure that exactly made the nights of meaningless sex with women, men, and others, the bounties he had taken, the brawls he had started, the random acts of vigilante crap he had done that usually had people running away from instead of thanking him.

In the last nine years, the only Jedi he had willingly interacted with was Mor, whose own past wasn’t pretty, thanks to his time stationed on Nal Hutta.

Rex and Ahsoka had learned to stop calling, though he hadn’t ever abandoned his com.

He couldn’t forgive himself for what had happened to Obi-Wan.

Cody wouldn’t be able to survive if anything had to Rex or Ahsoka simply because they couldn’t reach him.

But they hadn’t needed him, and he had said and meant his goodbyes on Zygerria.

The woman, this Heiress to the Fortress of Blood, a metaphor Cody had heard and made literal for her because he was sure as shit not going to be the one to clean up all these bodies, looked up at him with hatred burning in her face.

Obi-Wan wouldn’t be happy with him for somewhat enjoying her hatred, enjoyed it because it was one tenth of his own, an outward example of the darkness that dogged him across the galaxy.

Sometimes, Cody wished he could time travel again, as he was now, that Black Sun ambush on Muunilinst would have played out a wee bit differently.

Even if Obi-Wan thought him a monster too.

“Good, we’ve established you know of the Black Sun’s dealings, who hired your father to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi?”

Fear slid through her eyes, “I- he’ll kill me.”

Cody flicked a lock of her hair over her shoulder with his knife, “Sweetheart, I’ll kill you.”

She glared at him, “How can you wear the insignia of the Jedi and be like this?”

He knew his smile was feral when he said, “Because I’m the nightmare in the closet that haunts all those the Jedi have opened themselves up to over the years. They might not be able to take revenge if anything unfortunate happened.” Cody sliced through her hair, following her jawline, she let out a squeak of true fear as the pink strands fell like cobwebs over her bound form.

Real tears fell from her eyes then as he finished, whispering in her ear, “I’m the warning that some lines must never be crossed.”

“He was a Sith Lord,” she sobbed.

“Who?” he demanded.

He was looking for Maul, Sidious, and the Master’s Master.

He felt as if had been chasing after phantoms.

“Darth Plagueis.”

He straightened, scowling at her, flipping his dagger as he lowered his voice, “Who?”

“Damask!” she wept, “Hugo Damask, the Muun!”

Cody shoved back from her, and she screamed as began pacing the room, avoiding the bodies as rage filled him.

Damask.

He had investigated Damask for years, but had turned up nothing, nothing at all.

Clever Muun had scapegoated another banker who had been tried in Court and was rooting in prison now.

But that false confession in court had never sat well with him, because no prison could actually hold a Sith, which wasn’t exactly what the Muun had been sentenced for, just his involvement with the Black Sun.

But now?

Cody forced himself to ask more questions, “Why Obi-Wan? Who are the other Sith Lords?”

Her hazel eyes went wide, “I don’t know! I don’t know! I swear! My father only-”

He was already walking out, pulling his datapad as he searched through Damask’s properties and his movements.

He had long ago found a slicer to get him into Muunilinst’s security system and travel records.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was alive, no matter what anyone said, he was alive and he needed help.

Unfortunately, the Sith had proved, as always, to be a nearly impossible target to pin and catch.

He was on his ship about to jump into lightspeed when his com lit up.

He answered it, “What?”

_-Are you always this friendly?_ Tahl asked.

“What do you want?”

Tahl tsked, _-What if I had been Ahsoka?_

“Ahsoka would have known not to call unless it was an emergency.”

There was a beat of silence, before she said, _-That’s kind of depressing, Codes._

He gritted his teeth, losing his patience.

For once, he would have liked to ask for their help, he needed the Jedi with him to face down the Sith, but they wouldn’t believe him.

So he would leave a breadcrumb trail, and when he turned up dead, Rex would come running and they would find Obi-Wan.

That seemed fair, and maybe, as much as Cody wanted to see Obi-Wan again, he wasn’t sure he wanted to see what the Sith had done to him.

Tahl’s next words jerked him out of his morbid thoughts, _-Obi-Wan reached out to me through the Force, he’s alive._

“What did he say?”

_-You don’t sound surprised._

“I’m not. There wasn’t a body. I checked.” As in he had run the karking tests on the wrecks himself. “What did he say?”

_-Hugo Damask II is Darth Plagueis._

Cody sighed, _kriffing hells,_ of course.

Kill a few hundred people and _then_ Kenobi reaches out. 

“Did he say where he’s being kept?”

_-Why don’t you sound surprised by that either?_ She demanded.

“Because,” he said, “Black Sun and I had a discussion tonight.”

Tahl was quiet for a long moment, - _He doesn’t know where he’s being kept. I think he’s been forced into a coma or something. He also said not to underesti-_

“Where are we meeting up?” he asked as he readied his ship.

_-Coruscant, Ahsoka’s there now. I called you first._

He paused, “Thank you.” Then hung up.

He sighed again, and cursed Obi-Wan’s name as he launched his ship into hyperspace

* * *

AN: Comments, doves, or feedback, please?


	20. Welcome

AN: Olive branches and doves, dears. Welcome to the halfway point of this story! Again major thanks to the reviewers who have been getting me through the insanity of this year. I hope these stories are helping you as well, I wish you and your loved ones happiness, love, and safety.

P.s. Yes, Oliver Wren is Sabine Wren’s uncle, though Sabine hasn’t been born yet.

Chapter 20 - Welcome to the Circus

The Room of a Thousand Fountains was not often used for big events but the sound of the water allowed for some measure of privacy for those who had, who hadn’t, and who would be chosen as Padawans.

Rex led the way as Quin waved goodbye to go meet Aayla’s friends.

Oliver Wren sat alone on the edge of a fountain that happened to have been Obi-Wan’s favourite spot to meditate.

The thought pulled on her heart but she welcomed the happy occasion, if Olives accepted, of course, that would forever mark this place in her memory.

“Hey, ner vod,” Rex called as they approached, “good to see my lessons didn’t go to waste.”

Olives sprang to his feet with an exuberant, “Su cuy'gar!”

It translated to  _ You’re still alive! _ in Basic. It was a greeting Ahsoka was rather fond of herself.

He stopped short of giving Rex a hug, a typical greeting many of Rex’s younglings gave him.

Ahsoka had once seen a mob of little ones bury Rex in a tackle pile.

Mace had glared at Rex, but Ahsoka had seen the amusement playing in his dark eyes.

Olives looked up her with wide eyes and she smiled at him, flashing her canines a bit as Rex introduced them, “Olives, this Knight Ahsoka Tano, Initiate Oliver Wren.”

Ahsoka bowed to him and he hurried to do the same as he managed in a rush, “It is an honour to meet you, Knight Tano.”

Ahsoka grinned, “The honour is mine, Initiate Wren. Congratulations on passing your Verd'goten.”

He flushed, his cheeks notably pink even under his tanned skin, “Vor entye.”

“You fought very well today, your skill and discipline does you and your Masters credit.”

Olives blinked up at her but when he went to reply, her com lit up.

He paused to let her answer it.

But she just declined the call and began, “Oliver, I wished to-”

Her com lit up again.

“Really, it’s fine,” Olives said, looking increasingly nervous.

She declined the call again, as she took a breath to start again, but her com lit  _ again. _ Ahsoka held up her finger as she took the call, “What?”

_ -Honestly, I thought I taught you lot manners. _

Ahsoka sighed, “I’m busy, Tahl, what do you want?”

_ -I want you to have better manners. _

Ahsoka closed her eyes, “Tahl.”

_ -Why does everyone say my name like that? _

Rex leaned in to say, “Because despite no one being able to yell at you, you still manage to be one of the most annoying beings in the galaxy. It really is no wonder you married Qui-Gon.”

Ahsoka sniggered at Tahl’s exacerbated huff and Olives wide-eyed gaping as they insulted the Grandmaster of the Alder Jedi.

Wait until he saw how they talked to Mace and Yoda.

“Did you have news or were you just trying to pester me about my potential Padawan?” Ahsoka said, not missing the way Oliver caught and held his breath.

_ -Oh, nothing big, _ Tahl said airily,  _ just thought that you would like to know that Obi-Wan is alive. _

Ahsoka’s heart tumbled, as she asked in a near whisper, “What?”

_ -Obi-Wan is alive. _

“What do you mean, he's alive!?” Ahsoka bellowed into the com.

It didn’t matter how much ambient noise the fountains made, all conversation fell dead as everyone stopped to stare at her.

Rex takes the com from her hand, and he asked in a dark tone, "Obi-Wan?"

_ -Yes. _

“Cody?” Rex questioned.

_ -He's on his way to Coruscant now. _

Ahsoka swallowed hard, then looked back down at Olives, her emotions jangling her nerves.

She didn’t hear much of the rest of the conversation once Tahl said they didn’t know where or how he was.

Was Obi-Wan okay?  _ Alive! _ But hurt?

Something drastic must have happened or he would have escaped.

How were they going to find him? Cody had been searching for ten years.

Ahsoka returned to the moment as she met Oliver's dark brown eyes, his own worry and hope in turmoil in his eyes.

Knowing that feeling too well, knowing that his life was about to change and that his dreams could either be fulfilled or dashed.

She offered him a smile, and did what Obi-Wan would have done. Setting aside her own issues, she asked, "Initiate Oliver Wren, would you like to be my Padawan?"

His smile was nothing short of radiant as he bowed to her, "Yes, Master Tano, very much so."

Ahsoka wondered if he had that same sense of humour buried under the soldier's calm.

Fives had been good at both despite being almost two years younger than Rex.

She laid a hand on his shoulder, "Then welcome to the crazy, Padawan Wren."

His familiar light blazing brighter. She let that light fill her and allowed the beginnings of an old bond to take shape.

Ahsoka would not mistake Olives for Fives, they did not have the same lived experiences or share the same path, however, she would treasure him more for the friendship of an ARC trooper she had once known.

* * *

Obi-Wan awoke gasping, and the only reason he did not scream was because he didn't have enough air in his lungs to manage it.

He writhed on the wet floor.

It was too much,  _ too much. _

He hadn’t felt his body so long, hadn’t even been aware of it, had barely known how to come back to it as he explored further and further into the Force.

Every sensation was tenfold what it should, every muscle was a live wire, and his heartbeat a nauseating sensation in his centre that if he could have figured out how to direct his hands, he might have tried clawing it out.

He wasn't sure how long time passed like that as he came back to himself in fits and pieces. His time in the Force slipped away from him like a dream, Tahl's voice and face was a distant thought.

He remembered touching her face, trying to anchor himself, but he found, now that he was anchored in his own body, he was lost and anxiety sang through him.

He remembered being shot in the back, the bolt too big to block with a sabre and not enough time to think. Just knowing he had to protect Ahsoka.

He remembered saying goodbye, hoping that Cody would let them leave.

It had been a killing blow, his spine had been…

He reached for his back and his hand met smooth skin.

Confusion swamped him.

It was healed?

Where was he? Where were Cody and Ahsoka? Where was Qui-Gon?

Another thought occurred to him as images from Muunilinst flew through his mind.

Hugo Damask.

He was a Sith Lord.

He had to tell-

Obi-Wan screamed as a hand picked him up by the hair.

The shockwaves of the touch were more disturbing than the harshness with which he was lifted.

It was all he could do not to flail and cause himself greater distress.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice your travelling in the Force, Master Kenobi?" a voice said, sounding disjointed and far too loud as his nerve-endings and senses were being violently challenged.

The figure who held him chuckled, and Obi-Wan opened his eyes and let out a whimper as the lights stabbed into retinas.

What was happening to him? What had been done to him?

Whoever was holding him tsked, "Do not worry, my sweet pet, I will keep you alive, and safe, if you but  _ behave. _ "

Obi-Wan was either simply contrary by nature or maybe he knew, knew in his soul, that who held him had been the darkness that stalked his dreams, that had tried to possess him time and time again.

Obi-Wan reached for the Force and it greeted him with the open arms of a mother to her son as he wrapped his shields around himself like a favourite blanket.

A thumb stroked his cheek, his beard was short but not framed the way he liked it, he noted in a detached manner, "Never a Padawan, I think, perhaps a Master of old taken over an empty vessel?"

Obi-Wan didn't answer, concentrating on the Force as he opened his eyes to look into yellow eyes.

This was not Darth Maul; this was something a million times more dangerous, more clever.

Intelligence, cold and malicious, like the darkness of space far from starlight.

Not as loud as a dragon but infinitely more deadly.

"Tell me who you are?"

Obi-Wan stared at him speechless.

He had been captured, but he didn't understand what was happening, or how long he had been here.

Again, the Dark Lord tsked, "The last time you were conscious, you would have let yourself go insane or die before sharing your secrets. But things have changed, and you will learn obedience. I've learned things about your brain, your body, and your friends, that you will have no choice but to give yourself to me. Your life and your death are already mine to give and take, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Obi-Wan almost laughed as this creature asked for his soul.

That was something he could never give away.

It was a struggle to speak but he managed to say, his accent thicker than ever, "Sorry, but I don't think," he took in a gulping breath, "I would like to invest in your bank."

Hugo Damask petted Obi-Wan's cheek once more as if he really were some type of domesticated animal.

That stroking hand slid down his bare chest, the sensation caught between ecstasy and agony as if his mind had forgotten how to translate bodily sensations.

That hand rested on his stomach, just below his sternum, the other still wrapped tight in his hair that had gone tinglingly numb.

"You will learn, my little Jedi," he intoned, the breathing apparatus distorting his voice. 

Their gazes locked together.

"You will learn," the Sith repeated.

Force lightning went through his body; his being, caught, held, the bolts splintering through the crown of his head, through his heart and lungs and face, burrowing into his flesh, his bones.

The moment the Sith Lord released him, he passed out, his brain shutting down, unable to process -anything.

oOo

When next Obi-Wan woke, he registered that he was cold.

So cold.

Everything hurt, but at least his nerves weren’t screaming in agony and confusion. He must have been passed out for quite some time then, for his body to have adjusted even this much.

Sitting up, he attempted to reach for the Force but…

He looked down at his hands and found Force suppressors. 

He sighed and did his best not to think of what these would do to him over a long period of time.

His eyes searched the room he was in.

Durasteel, bolted and enforced on the other side, how did he know this?

It was similar to the holding cell they had in the Temple that was said to have held a Sith Lord.

The irony was not lost on him now.

Cautiously, he stretched his spin and again he felt his back.

He should be dead.

He really should have been dead.

Why would the Sith go to so much trouble to heal him?

Obi-Wan had no idea how long he had been unconscious, and he was only vaguely sure that Darth Plagueis had tortured him for months, perhaps a year, before putting him under.

He sighed again as his thoughts refocused.

Darth Plagueis had healed his back while he was still awake. It had been part of the torture as he used the Force to right muscles and bone.

How had he forgotten that?

He remembered Plagueis forcing him awake when he would have otherwise passed out.

_ Oh, that’s why. _

Obi-Wan sort of missed Maul at this point.

He ran a hand over his own beard, a beard he hadn’t been able to grow until his late teens.

So possibly years?

Another mystery was his muscle mass, under a pair of black pants, the only clothing he had, his legs were muscled, so was the rest of him that he could see.

If he had been in a coma, how had managed to stay in shape?

“I had my droid run you through a number of advanced medical procedures,” Darth Plagueis stepped into the cell, Obi-Wan jumped, he hadn’t even heard the door open. “And I admit to running a few of my own experiments.”

Obi-Wan didn’t dwell on that thought for long, as he dipped his head in a mock bow, “My thanks.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure, not without the Force, but he thought that response might have pleased the Dark Lord.

The Muun bent that long body of his to hand him a large cup of hot tea.

Obi-Wan almost cried as he accepted it, with a grateful Mandalorian thank you, and took a willful sip.

If it was poisoned, then of the tortures he could choose, drugged tea didn’t make his top ten worst possible options list. There were so many ways to inflict harm on him, he doubted it would be the tea that the Sith chose to end him with.

Plagueis paused, looking at him for a long moment, before taking a seat on one of the benches that wrapped the entire cell.

Obi-Wan stayed where he was, clinging to the mug like it was the last lifeline in the galaxy.

And it was  _ good _ tea.

Plagueis was the worst thing Obi-Wan could imagine, he was far more powerful than Yoda in the Force and he was a scientist.

The type of scientist that might have thought up weapons of mass-destruction and only passed on pursuing those ideas because it didn’t cause enough, or the correct type, of destruction he intended.

Obi-Wan was very much convinced that whatever the Republic’s faults were, this creature was almost solely responsible for its accelerated decay.

But the tea was still good.

“You truly have come to respect your enemy,” Plagueis began conversationally, “That is not habitual of your people, nor is it something I’ve been able to teach my own apprentice.”

“Darth Maul?” Obi-Wan asked, unable to remember if he had ever had this conversation with the Muun or not.

All Obi-Wan really remembered of their first encounters was pain and screaming his own name.

Darth Plagueis tilted his head to the side, “How did you even learn of that name?”

Obi-Wan straightened his own shoulders, settling into his meditative pose, he would much rather have a duel of words with the Lord than be tortured. “I must say, I’m surprised,” Obi-Wan mused, “Maul was not,” he paused, “a deep thinker. Not stupid, but nothing like what I’ve come to expect from you.”

Darth Plagueis stated, “You’ve met Maul.”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Haven’t we already had that conversation?” Obi-Wan replied, honestly not knowing the answer despite phrasing it as a rhetorical question.

Darth Plagueis shook his head slightly, “You will bend, Obi-Wan. But in the spirit of our new alliance, no, Darth Maul is not my apprentice.”

_ What alliance? _ But he set it aside like so much else, not allowing fear to rule him. It’s what Maul had wanted from him, fear and hatred. Obi-Wan might have been in a cage with no hope of escape or outmatching the Sith had redefined him what pain was, he would still not give in to the fear.

Madness.

Death.

It didn’t matter, his people, his family were free and safe, and they would be able to overcome the Sith one day, he believed in them. That’s all that had ever mattered to him.

“He is Darth Sidious’s apprentice,” Obi-Wan said.

Obi-Wan read the slight surprise in Plagueis’s posture, the breathing apparatus covering most of his facial expression.

Pity they couldn’t have tea together.

Now that would have been a story to tell Anakin.

“I could make you my apprentice, Master Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan didn’t flinch at that, knowing full well that he hadn’t explained that title, knowing that it would make Ahsoka a target, well, more of a target.

Obi-Wan would honestly rather have Plagueis kill his grandpadawan than have him do to her even a tenth of the things he had done to Obi-Wan in only a year's time.

“That is a kind offer but I think I shall pass, thank you for asking. Red just isn’t my colour,” he said cheerily, wondering how Asajj was doing these days.

Plagueis watched him for the space of minutes, and Obi-Wan let him do so uninterrupted as he drank the tea.

He had learned never to assume when meals or fluids would come to him.

Plagueis had a habit of shoving an I.V. in his arm rather than giving him either.

The tea was a welcomed change.

Finally, Plagueis spoke after Obi-Wan set aside the empty mug.

“I admit to having grown quite fond of you, over the years, my little Jedi.”

Obi-Wan was used to Plagueis considering him a pet, just another organism trapped in jars and tanks in his vast underground lab, so he didn’t bat a lash as he asked, “Years?”

“Nine, to be precise,” Plagueis answered.

Obi-Wan paled.

_ Nine years _ ?  _ I’ve been in a coma for nine years! _

Plagueis went on, “Nothing I've kept alive so long has ever proved as interesting as you have.”

“Boredom is a terrible fate,” Obi-Wan said without missing a beat.

Plagueis laughed, “I do agree. And you’ve proved most responsive to my experimentations over the years. The Force is a holistic thing, but the Light inside you has given your form fascinating properties. For instance, you were far easier to heal than Darth Venomous.”

Obi-Wan suppressed a shiver at all the possible violations that had been done to him and his body. Having vague impressions of being chased through his dreams by dark shadows, of being watched, inv- He altered his line of thought, “The Bith in the bubble beside mine?”

“The same. My own Master trained him to be my replacement if I failed in my training.”

Obi-Wan didn’t really understand how the Sith were one of the leading evils in the galaxy when they were so dead set on destroying themselves.

The Muun continued, “I would like you to be Sidious’s replacement. His arrogance will be our undoing, and he refuses to share power, hoarding it like a miser.”

Which fit, didn’t it? Hugo Damask had died in Obi-Wan’s time by the time of the Clone Wars.

“Do you know what the Rule of Two is?”

Obi-Wan nodded, “Yes, a single Master and a single apprentice.”

“Do you know why this rule exists?”

“Bane?” Obi-Wan said with a bit of uncertainty, “it was after the Sith went to war against themselves.”

“Yes, but that is not what the Rule of Two aspired to be, it was meant to find two equals, who would rule the galaxy for an eternity. A dyad, forming a bond that magnifies each other’s strengths in the Force exponentially.”

Obi-Wan nodded sagely, “I suppose everyone’s soulmate is out there. Best of luck in finding your true love.”

Plagueis sat forward a bit, “You have not risen in power, Obi-Wan, since you’ve been with me. You are perhaps one of the brightest Jedi I have ever seen but from fifteen to twenty-five when humans grow the most, you remain largely unchanged.”

“I peaked early,” Obi-Wan deadpanned as he tried to think where this was going.

“I thought that a partner in the Force would have to be an equal in power, but you,  _ you _ , a constant star, did something new.”

Yeah, Obi-Wan didn’t like where this conversation was going, at all.

“Astral projection through the Force,” Plagueis said, “while subdued in a coma.”

Obi-Wan saw an image of Tahl in the Temple gardens. He had spoken to her, hadn’t he?

“I’ve been monitoring your success. I’ve also been experimenting, changing the drugs in your system, your heart rate, your breathing, your stress and testosterone levels, but nothing bodily seemed to ever affect your efforts. Not pain or exhaustion. I brought you to the brink of death, your brain shutting down near completely, and yet…” There was excitement in his voice, a scientist on the edge of discovery, “You continued in the Force uninterrupted, able to shield and protect yourself against me as you searched blindly for a way to contact other physical living beings.”

Obi-Wan was getting the impression that impressing a Sith Lord could lead to nothing good.

“Do you know how long it has taken the Sith to discover such methods?” he didn’t pause long enough for him to answer, “And yet you, with no conscious goal of doing so, were able to find a path of immortality through the Light Side of the Force.”

_ Yep, _ he thought,  _ this isn’t going to end well. _

“Join me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and together we can rule the galaxy. We can bring order to the Republic and I can teach you things you have never even dreamed of.”

Obi-Wan let out a long breath and did his best not to laugh in the Dark Lord’s face.

And Anakin said he didn’t have decent survival instincts?

“I appreciate the offer, but I am a Jedi, and empire has never been anything I have ever desired.”

Plagueis nodded, “There will be time, little Jedi, to change your mind, you can be my prisoner or my ally. This is the gift I offer you.”

“Darth Sidious doesn’t know I’m alive, does he?” Obi-Wan asked on impulse.

“No, he does not. You should be honoured, you have seen more of my labs then he.”

Obi-Wan hummed, “I make it a point not to be grateful for torture, only surviving it.”

Plagueis stood, then came to kneel in front of him. The Muun took him by the jaw as if he meant to check his teeth, “My patience is not endless, pet. Tell me how you came to be a Master Jedi inside the body of Padawan?”

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan apologized, “that’s confidential.”

Plagueis sighed, the sound hushing through the vocalizer, “I do admire your resistance to physical torment. It is something us Sith embrace, but your strength of will, however impressive, will not be enough.”

“I don’t know,” Obi-Wan said drily, “I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far.”

Plagueis squeezed, the sensations, the personal content spiked another confusing wave of sensations to his brain, as the Dark Lord leaned in closer to say, “But there are other ways to hurt, other ways to be broken.”

Obi-Wan didn’t challenge that, unwilling to provoke him further as pain swept anew.

He just wanted this nightmare to end.

“Curiosity led me to allow you to make contact with your Jedi-kin. I wanted to know if you could manage it, and because it truly does not matter what you told them as your friends will not survive long enough to save you or stop me.”

“If the Order learns-”

“Your Order has fractured. It might have been easier to attack a single target, but spread so thin as they are now… well, infiltrating their numbers will not be so difficult.”

Obi-Wan’s mind spun as he tried to think what in the worlds he could be referring to.

What had happened to the Order in the last decade?

“And I’ve had a long going experiment on your lover.”

“I don’t have a lover,” Obi-Wan stated, Tahl’s inane jesting from years ago felt a thousand years beyond reach. The lovers he had had were no longer the people he had grown up with.

Plagueis changed his grip abruptly, dropping his jaw and grabbing him by the hair as he had when he had first woken. Plagueis forced him to look at one of the walls that had video projecting over it.

A Mandalorian in silver-white armour - _ Cod _ y, Obi-Wan realized, cut armed gang-members down like stocks of wheat in an open field.

“Your heart rate has changed, pet,” Plagueis crooned,  _ pet _ sounding like  _ insect _ with a more lascivious intent.

“Cody was never m-”

“But he loves you,” Plagueis said, “such an easy sentiment to direct and use. More than anything else in the human race, love makes you all such easy prey. Less predictable than greed but with such a variety of fallouts.”

Obi-Wan very much doubted this Muun had the slightest context of what love actually was and it seemed almost blasphemous for him to use such terms so inappropriately.

But for all Obi-Wan knew, his ancestral Jedi had not forgone attachments because it led them down dark paths, instead, it had been for a very practical cause of the Sith making a practice of targeting a Jedi’s connections.

Hunting.

The idea that he and Cody were nothing but animals to be hunted, to be scared and lured into traps for this monster's sick amusement ignited fury in his chest. Fury that he made himself swallow down like acid, unable to reach out to the Force and release it.

"Does that look like a man of hope to you?” Plagueis spoke in his ears, as Obi-Wan watched Cody waging war his own, without even Rex at his side. The Dark Lord went on, “He believes you live, he always has, but yet look at what he has become. His obsession, his blood lust. He bowed before me, you know? His emotions broke him wide open and it was an easy thing to twist his mind, his heart."

Obi-Wan fought back tears,  _ Cody _ .

"I was rather impressed, I did not think he would have lasted this long. He's been chasing his own tail for years, even when a part of him knew it was me from the start."

Obi-Wan let out a breath, "What are you going to do to him?"

Plagueis chuckled, "Oh no, my friend, I will not do anything more to him. There's no need. You see, it isn’t what is going to happen to him, it is what he is going to do to your little family. They've been apart for so long you see, my initial compulsion was averted. But after seeing what he's become of him over the years, how long do you think it will take before he finally snaps?"

Obi-Wan's blood went cold, "No."

“He will drown in their blood before they ever find you.” Plagueis twisted Obi-Wan's head back, baring his throat as he met those sickly yellow eyes shot through with red streaks, "Tell me who you are and how you came by your powers, and I will allow you to call them, to warn them."

Obi-Wan's mind reeled, knowing that if he told the truth, that the Sith would never leave Ahsoka be.

He would never give Ahsoka to Plagueis, never imply that she was anything more than what she appeared.

Because if this monster learned they were time travellers, he would tear their minds apart until he had unearthed their every secret, their every memory of a future that would never be but might help the Sith plot their imperial pursuits.

Obi-Wan could withstand torture, he would die, eventually, before Plagueis got a thread of useful information from him.

He would never say a word that would cause Plagueis to garner such an interest in his grandpadawan.

He had betrayed Ahsoka once, failed her once.

He would never do so again.

Which meant either Cody would succeed in assassinating them or, more likely, Cody would die trying.

Obi-Wan’s only comfort was knowing that Cody would have made this same choice in his place.

Seeing his resolve, Plagueis threw him across the room.

Obi-Wan let out a cry as his overly sensitive body hit the wall, the bench, and then the floor.

He was left gasping as the Sith said, "Fine, but remember, after they are all dead, you will still be mine, and I will break you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I own you."

His cell clanged shut as he curled in on himself, the audio of Cody's life was turned up, impossible to tune out.

The sound of screaming, begging, and death filled the darkness of his cell as the lights were dimmed. Obi-Wan was left in the darkness without even the touch of the Force as his dearest friend's sanity was chipped away one final breath at a time.

He had one morbid and selfish thought as he sought an escape that seemed impossible without his connection to the Force; at least the tea had been good.

* * *

AN: Who's ready for a family reunion :D Thoughts, complaints, puppies, or feedback?


	21. Heart

AN: My only promise is that there will be a happy ending. Thank you, Nauze!

WARNING: I’m not giving anymore warnings, this story isn’t getting any darker than it already is and there will be no on screen lemons, and beyond that, you can practice self-choice in what you want or don’t want to read. 

Clone Wars is a kids show, Ben Hur 1959 is PG and Spiderman is PG13. That’s where we are at.

Chapter 21 - Heart

Dooku was very pleased to meet another one of his grandpadawans, and was not at all surprised to discover he was a Mandalorian.

Dooku was further pleased by the lack of fear Padawan Oliver Wren had greeted him with.

He gave an approving look to Ahsoka who grinned back at him unabashedly.

“And Oliver,” Ahsoka introduced as they took their seats in the cockpit, “This is Grandmaster Tahl.”

Tahl gave him a Mandalorian piece sign before going back to running her hands over the dash that had been specifically designed for her. 

He, Ahsoka, Qui-Gon, Rex, and Duchess Satine had all learned to read the touch language in the case they ever had to or were allowed to fly her ship.

“Nice to meet you, Grandmaster Tahl,” he greeted, then as he was buckling up, he asked, “Can I ask why the dash looks like that?”

“It’s Tahl ship,” Ahsoka said cheerfully, “she’s blind.”

Oliver didn’t question this as most did, but Dooku didn’t miss his checking the buckles.

“Good pick, ‘Soka,” Tahl said.

Dooku turned to look out into the corridor as he heard a sharp bang, like a fist punching the wall.

He knew just enough to follow even if he wasn’t terribly gifted at speaking it.

_ “What in the hells is wrong with you!?” _

__ _ “Screw off.” _

__ _ “No, you can go get shivved, you are not greeting Ahsoka and her Padawan like this.” _

Dooku could not translate what must have been a truly inventive slur swears, but he didn’t need an exact translation.

He didn’t hear what was said next, and he looked to Ahsoka.

Human hearing got worse as they aged, but the sensitivity of a Togruta’s hearing grew with their montrals. She explained it to him once that if a child of their species had the hearing of an adult they might be overwhelmed.

But whatever was said by the two Mandalorian brothers, chased sorrow across her beautiful features.

Dooku was out of his seat, gesturing for her to stay, and thankfully she did.

The further he walked, however, the more concerned he became.

He froze when Cody’s head whipped in his direction.

The Force screeched a warning at him and he knew not to move. If he moved, Cody would pull a weapon on him, and Dooku would only have half a thought to pull his lightsabre in time.

Even with his helmet on, Dooku could feel the hate and  _ death _ cloaking him.

What had happened to the bright light he remembered? He knew that Cody had never liked him, he even respected why, but the sheer  _ loathing _ he felt now was something.

Something that was on a hair trigger of exploding.

Rex shoved his brother with both hands, so Cody’s shoulders and helmet clanged against the wall.

“Cool off!” Rex yelled in basic.

Cody tensed bracing for a fight but Rex pointed down the opposite hall, “That is an order, soldier.”

Still Cody did not ease down.

Rex took off his helmet and nearly spat in his brother’s face,  _ “Gar dar'buir.” _

It literally meant,  _ You are no longer a father _ . But in this instance, Dooku believed he meant,  _ You are shaming our family. _

Cody backed down at that, and left down toward the cabins.

Qui-Gon had come out from where he had been looking at maps, touching Dooku’s arm, “You alright, Master?”

Dooku shook his head as Rex walked toward them and asked, “What was that?”

Rex grimaced, “He’s been alone too long.”

“That is not an explanation,” Dooku said.

Rex glared up at him and retorted, “What do you want me to say? His world has been uprooted too many times? That he doesn’t care anymore? That Obi-Wan has been in the hands of a Dark Lord of the Sith for  _ ten kriffing years _ and we still don’t know where he is or if there will be anything left to save when we do find him? What do you want to hear, Count?”

Dooku looked at him for a long moment before saying, “I want to know that he is not a danger to those on this ship, myself excluded.”

Rex left out a harsh breath, “He’ll be fine, we always are.”

He walked past them and Dooku shared a look with Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon’s own gaze held sorrow and worry, but they were of one mind on this issue.

Something was  _ different _ about Mandalorain Cody.

Dooku did not trust him as much as his brother did, and better or for worse, he could see that something in the man’s heart had changed.

Where once there had been love, now bred hate.

* * *

Obi-Wan stared down at his hands, his wrists cuffed and mulled over all the things Plagueis had told him.

It was still hard to wrap his head around ten years having passed without him, though technically, he was still ten years in the past from where he had originally been before the time travel.

Also, his twenty-five-year-old body was monumentally better than his teenage one, and honestly, better than his forty-year-old one as well.

Even if Plagueis had been doing Force knew what to it.

But something was niggling at him about what had been said;  _ But nothing bodily seemed to ever affect your efforts. _

Which meant what? That his connection to the Force wasn’t related to his body, which he had never found to be true, or that astral projection was something else entirely?

Astral projection was not something he had never been taught or set out to try.

Visions, Force bonds, connecting to the Cosmic and Living Force, yes, but that wasn’t astral projection.

It was very hard for Obi-Wan to remember anything from his time in the coma. Yesterday felt like the day Plagueis had gotten fed up with his willingness to go insane rather than give even one straightforward answer, which, presumably, is when he had been placed in a coma.

But he was almost certain that he had managed to reach someone in his dreams, and even more sure that he had been in danger throughout his exploration.

Which if Plagueis had been monitoring his efforts, made some sense.

Master Che had diagnosed him once with body-dysmorphia, he wasn’t entirely sure, but he didn’t think Plagueis had helped him with that condition, however…

Obi-Wan skewed his eyes shut, the distraction of being cut off from the Force was like a phantom limb, like losing his eye-sight or perhaps-

He had met with Tahl.

She had been able to see him in her dreams, he had felt the warmth of her skin, as if-

In visions, he shouldn’t have been able to tangibly feel her like that, and he had been trying to anchor himself as if to be without an anchor would mean his death, something he had known instinctually or some bit of wisdom the Force saw fit to share with him. He remembered the spike of fear as Plagueis had tried to use his body to follow…

Was astral projection physical or a Force power?

Tied to the body, yet not tied to the body…

_ No _ , he realized, not his body, his  _ life _ .

He had been able to travel the Force but leaving his body behind had left him in mortal danger… because… because…

He sighed, this wasn’t something he had researched. He guessed strongly that he had even been able to do it all because he was desperate to know if his friends were okay, to warn them…

It had been the only thing he had to hold onto as Plagueis redefined for him what pain was.

But did he need the Force?

He looked down at the cuffs, Force blockers.

But that wasn’t really what they did, they stopped his ability to communicate with the Force outside of his body, not the Force’s ability to touch him, not his awareness of his own life’s energy.

It was a physical blocker of a metaphysical power, but it didn’t stop him from living.

And his physical state hadn’t stopped him from astral projecting before, Plagueis had said.

Obi-Wan had always assumed his soul was just a compound, an accumulation of something science was not yet advanced enough to measure held within the Force.

But what if the soul was more? What if his soul was him, his life and his after life, is mortality and immortality?

His body was bound from the Force, but that thing that sustained life was still there because  _ he _ was still alive.

Obi-Wan settled himself in a meditative stance, the horror show Plagueis had shown him of Cody had taken a break for a bit and Obi-Wan was going to capitalize on it.

Qui-Gon was either going to think him the biggest fool in the galaxy, or applaud him for what he was about to try.

The Force existed whether one could sense it or not, the Force held all life, all death, the material and immaterial.

Obi-Wan did not reach for the Force, he reached for the life inside himself, and let go of his body.

The Force greeted him as he stepped into his own light and out from his body.

He had a moment to look down at himself, his hair was as long as it had been during Anakin’s Padawan years, but not styled and his beard looked as if a droid had taken scissors to it periodically. He looked a mess, yet not out of shape. A boon, of sorts, he supposed, if he ever had any prayer of getting out of here.

He left his slumped form alone, it had still been breathing.

How long could a body survive without its soul?

He raced through walls, through passageways, he was in an underground tunnel of some sort.

He hopped through the ceiling, and layers of crest and... magma?

Obi-Wan gasped as he was slammed back into his body.

He kicked out and Plagueis shook him like a ragdoll, his head hitting the durasteel wall of his prison.

“Impressive,” the Dark Lord intoned, “most impressive.”

Obi-Wan blinked black spots from his vision as those long fingers curled around his neck, “Try it again, and I will personally kill Cody.”

Obi-Wan bowed his head even if any idea thrilled through him.

He knew that he shouldn’t pit one of the most dangerous Sith Lords in existence against one of his friends, but without Anakin, without a fully orginazed planned assault, which Plagueis would never be stupid enough to fall into, then who would he trust to kill Plagueis?

Obi-Wan was very careful to hide his reaction, to not fight Plagueis as he was dropped back to the ground.

Cody versus Plagueis.

Most would have picked the Sith Lord over the Mandalorian, but Cody was sensible. He would never give the Dark Lord a chance to fight back.

Plagueis sighed, “Not two days out of your sleep and you’re already causing problems.”

Obi-Wan lifted his gaze, “Causing problems? I thought I was managing pretty well during my nap time.”

A flash of something, amusement? Exacerbation?

He tightened his grip on his neck, cutting off his airway, “Try it once more and I will have your Mandalorian under my scalpel.”

And with that delightful remark, he tossed Obi-Wan against the wall, and Obi-Wan let his body go lax, lessening the blow as he slumped on the bench.

Plagueis left without saying goodbye.

Obi-Wan waited an hour, or what he guessed to be an hour, enough time for Plagueis to have hopefully walked off but not so long that he would be prepared to check on him.

Obi-Wan threw himself out of his body, this time being sure to wrap his shields tightly around himself as he searched the Force.

He found Qui-Gon first, Plagueis had severed the bond between them but Qui-Gon’s light had always been a part of his own.

It was the underlying reason that Masters, their Padawans, and grandpadawans were considered lines. Not because their philosophies were necessarily shared but because they had literally shaped and been shaped by each other, the cutting of jewel, the refinement of light.

Obi-Wan was careful to avoid Ahsoka, as he stood unseen before his own Master, bent over a map of Muunilinst, a forgotten cup of tea in his hand.

_ -Wasteful,  _ Obi-Wan tsked, Qui-Gon didn’t hear him.

But Obi-Wan didn’t linger or try to reach out to his Master further, leaving him be to search the ship.

Praying to all the stars which shined that Cody would be asleep or resting as Obi-Wan had never managed to communicate with another conscious being in this form.

“I’m worried about him,” Ahsoka was saying to Rex.

He didn’t look at her, not for an instant as he walked through the walls of the ship.

He did, however, pause when he came across as he entered a room with a young boy who was going through Djem So movements.

Obi-Wan frowned,  _ -Fives? _

The boy spun, his sabre igniting as he demanded, “Who's there?”

Obi-Wan left, shaken and not knowing if it was because he was certain that was Fives, who had once been an ARC trooper of the 501st, or because the boy had been able to sense him so easily in the Force, hearing him where his own Master hadn’t.

Two rooms down, Obi-Wan found to his relief, that Cody was sleeping, curled on his side in a bunk in just his blacks.

Obi-Wan sat on the side of the bed, leaning over his Commander’s shoulder to touch his temple.

The breathless jump into dream was jarring as he went from being a semi-ghost whose only physical limitations were imaginary, to dreams, where his senses felt real.

Obi-Wan pulled his arms up in a shield, finding himself dressed in his General army as chaos unfolded around him.

He wasn’t sure what battle this was, or if it was simply a nightmare as thick grey and black smoke surrounded him. He only knew it was the Clone Wars because of his troops, marked with the orange of the 212th, darted in and out of his field of vision, becoming shadows as energy bolts streaked through the din.

“ _ Cody!” _ Obi-Wan yelled, not having time to wander through this hell. “ _ Cody!” _

There was no response, but Obi-Wan felt a ripple in the dream, the sounds of explosions and death lessening. A benefit to dreams, just like absence of smell that was sometimes possible.

“ _ Commander Cody!” _ he called again, “ _ Report!” _

Cody emerged from the bellowing grey smoke, the direct order feeding into a lifetime of training. He was wearing his old armour too, not the beskar, “Sir?”

Obi-Wan ran to him, “Cody, are you alright?”

Cody took off his helmet, tossing it to the ground carelessly as he closed the space between them to put a hand on his shoulder, “I’ve been looking for you, General.”

Obi-Wan opened himself up, looking for the darkness, the twist, that Plagueis had claimed he had created. It must have been subtle because Obi-Wan hadn’t immediately sensed it because surely others would have felt it.

Cody cupped his face, startling Obi-Wan to look not through him, but into those steady brown eyes. “I have missed you so much, Obi-Wan.”

It wasn’t common for Cody to use his first name, and Obi-Wan could feel Cody’s emotions, saying more than his words could.

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan said, placing his own hands on Cody’s chest as he searched and searched for the darkness.

He was running out of time, Plagueis would notice him soon.

And if he didn’t, it was possible Obi-Wan’s body would die before he could return to it.

Cody would probably hate him for that.

Cody exhaled, his shoulders easing, and Obi-Wan was able to get past Cody’s strangely formidable shields to find…

He gasped, horrified at the sickness there, like pooling ink in his friend’s being.

Cody pulled him closer, wrapping him in his arms, “Shhh, Obi-Wan, you’re safe. It’s only a dream.”

How very ‘Cody’, to comfort Obi-Wan during his own nightmares.

Obi-Wan tried to grapple, to expel the darkness as he pressed his hands against Cody’s chest.

But the darkness fled from his touch, seeming to burrow deeper into the far corners of Cody’s mind and spirit.

Obi-Wan had never worked with the Dark Side of the Force, yes, he had encountered it, brushed by it, stared into its empty maw and wished for death, but it had never called to him. It simply wasn’t the relationship he had with the Force.

He had always considered himself blessed for that, whatever his shortcomings, he was never going to become like Xanatos or Dooku.

He thought that right up to this moment as he realized he didn’t know how to help Cody, how to free him from this cancer that had taken life inside him, fed by years of death and despair.

Cody dropped his head to Obi-Wan’s so that their foreheads pressed together. Obi-Wan had never been this close to Cody, not like this, and only now did he see the finer flecks of gold in those brown depths.

“This is only a dream,” Cody said, as Obi-Wan searched for anything in the Force, any clue for what he could do to help. Cody leaned into him, as if he could keep them from disappearing, keep this dream from fading, “I love you.”

Obi-Wan startled, staring up at his Commander as they stood wrapped in an embrace, “What?”

Surely he had misheard, Tahl had only been teasing him, and Plagueis had simply misinterpreted-

“I love you, Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Cody said more directly, “I always have.”

Obi-Wan felt sorrow then and wasn’t at all sure how to respond, how to face such a declaration. Cody had been his… “I do not deserve you,” Obi-Wan said truthfully.

He had laid an army of slaves to fight for their enslavers, he hardly deserved Cody’s friendship, much less his loyalty or anything else.

It killed Obi-Wan to think how his disappearance had hurt this man.

Cody sighed, closing his eyes as Obi-Wan shook himself, throwing his shields further open, desperate now to anything-

_ There. _

“Obi-Wan,” Cody said in that long suffering way of his when he or Anakin proposed a plan, “why can you never see yourself?”

Obi-Wan’s reached a hand up to Cody’s collar, finding a cord around his neck. Cody raised his head to let him pull the necklace out, Obi-Wan’s own kyber crystal glowed blue against Cody’s silver armour that had morphed into beskar. The Jedi insignia making Obi-Wan’s eyes burn; would he live long enough to return to his people? His family? To Cody who had sacrificed far too much on account of him?

“Qui-Gon gave it to me,” Cody said, but Obi-Wan was hardly listening as an idea occurred to him.

Obi-Wan wrapped his hand around the kyber, anchoring himself here and now as he tried again to reach for the darkness growing in Cody.

Cody put a hand under his chin, Obi-Wan gazed into that strong face.

Cody looked exhausted and sad, but unlike what Plagueis had seen, Obi-Wan did see hope in his friend’s eyes.

Obi-Wan let himself think of all the atrocities done to this man and his brothers. He didn’t focus on his compassion, but the anger he felt toward the people who had been a part of it.

At himself.

Master Che had told him once that he hated his body.

But Obi-Wan knew it ran deeper than that. He allowed himself the luxury of that hate, that streak of self destruction, of his fury against all his enemies who would go after the ones he loved but  _ always _ fail to kill him.

As if they all knew that death was not something feared.

Obi-Wan didn’t want to die, but he didn’t want to live so badly that he wouldn’t trade his life a thousand times over for the ones he loved.

His hand tightened around the kyber crystal so that it almost cut into his palm. He didn’t allow his connection to the Force to recede as it always did when he lost control of his emotions.

He had to stop trying to call to the Dark Side with a lack of control, as Plagueis had shown him time and time again, Maul’s seething hatred was not the only path.

The Dark did not run hot, it ran cold, like a river in a deep underground spring.

Obi-Wan had never lacked control once becoming a Knight.

Ahsoka’s words from so long ago as they stood before the Council, the four of them united, came back to him:

_ To use the Light you have to work for it, you have to act with clear intentions even if you're taking a life. You must give to receive, and you only receive as much as you are willing or able to give. In contrast, the Dark is easy, it comes easily because it takes everything, and returns with more than you will survive. _

For the first time in his life, that was a trade he was willing to make.

Obi-Wan used his own kyber crystal as the focusing object and did something he had never done to the Force before.

He didn’t call it to him, did not ask for help or guidance, did not listen for its intentions.

Obi-Wan took hold of the power he had been gifted with, and  _ took _ .

He was so distracted that he almost didn’t notice the lips that brushed his own, Cody’s raw emotions adding to the flavour of his own as Obi-Wan used those emotions to dictate to the Force.

The darkness should have repulsed him, he knew with every fiber of his body that what he was doing with the Force was wrong, but the  _ power _ .

The freedom, the heady highs of his every emotion, good or ill, a decadence of riches in his veins.

Cody’s lips coaxed Obi-Wan back to the present, reminding him of his purpose as the sound of his kyber hummed like an angry hummingbird.

If he did not stop now, he would be forever changed, his kyber crystal, the piece of the galaxy that had chosen him, to accept and protect him, seemed to be a warning.

But Cody was still kissing him, and emotions that Obi-Wan could not name and could not unravel overwhelmed him.

All that he knew for sure was that at least a part of him returned Cody’s feelings, maybe he didn’t love Cody the way in which he wished to be loved, but Obi-Wan did care for him.

But that didn’t matter because that wasn’t truly the question being asked.

Did he care for this man enough, love him enough; did Obi-Wan value Cody’s life and freedom above his own?

Cody began to pull back, but Obi-Wan reached up his free hand behind his neck to pull his Commander back in for another kiss.

Obi-Wan felt Cody’s surge of unfettered joy, his lust, his anger that this might not last, that they were, in reality, so far apart from each other, and that unlike nightmares, dreams ended.

Obi-Wan used Cody’s emotions as a gateway to his own, seeking with purpose and power, as he drank the poison from Cody’s soul into his own.

Such power, such opportunity, flooding his senses.

The darkness of space was larger than all the stars combined.

His kyber crystal burned in his hand as its song began to rise in fear that both broke Obi-Wan’s heart and delighted him as that rising song became a cry.

Obi-Wan betrayed it, betrayed all he had been raised to be as he bled his crystal, shaping its will and purpose to his own.

Darth Maul was a hack, the power of the Dark Side did not come from hatred or suffering, not from pain but from  _ causing _ pain.

It came from the freedom of not caring.

No guilt.

No loss.

Just the freedom of feeling whatever he wanted to and taking whatever he wanted without fear of the cost.

With this much power, there was no cost he could not afford.

He released Cody, the Mandalorian’s smile died as he frowned down at him, “Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan grinned up, at the knowledge that he had been victorious, Cody’s light shown in the Force untainted and unmarred by the damage Plagueis had inflicted on him. “You’re free, Cody.”

Obi-Wan did not hear Cody’s response as he was yanked with a sickening abruptness back into his own physical body.

He had been gone from his body too long, and immediately lost consciousness as his lungs refused to expand, the slowing thud of his heart following him down into the dark.

* * *

Cody woke up with a jolt, the oppressive hopeless and rage that had seeped the joy out of everything and anything was… quiet.

For a moment, he let himself bask in the peace, the quiet.

The sweet memory of Obi-Wan’s lips under his was a memory he would keep safely inside. He knew that when he found Obi-Wan that it could never be, that he would never admit to his General in real life his feelings.

But in dreams…

Dreams were safe.

Cody’s peace evaporated when he realized his room was filled with people.

He was upright in bed before he could process he wasn’t in danger.

Or maybe he was.

Master Qui-Gon Jinn scowled down at him as he reached for the kyber around his neck.

Strange that it was out from his blacks, he almost always kept Obi-Wan’s crystal against his skin, always afraid it could snag and fall off in battle.

Jinn’s hands were shaking as he asked in a low voice that made Cody flinch, “You bled Obi-Wan’s kyber?”

The happiness Cody had woken up with faded almost entirely as he glanced down at the blue stone that…

It was no longer a cobalt blue but a crimson light that scared him more than anything else as he asked, “Does it mean he’s hurt?”

Jinn glared at him.

But Master Tahl shook her head, as she touched Jinn’s arm and followed it to his hand where she found the kyber, “No,” she breathed.

Jinn’s face darkened further, “How did you do this?”

“Cody couldn’t have done it,” Ahsoka said, “Force shielding is very different from bleeding a kyber crystal. That stone has more power than Cody and Rex combined, if either of them even tried they would be hurt, badly.”

“Good to know,” Rex said.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, “Right, because you were going to what, join the Nightbrothers?”

Rex smirked, “Thanks, but I’ve lost enough freedoms over the course of my life to know better than to put myself in the power of the Dathomirians.”

_ Freedom. _

“Obi-Wan said I was free,” Cody blurted, feeling oddly nervous.

Jinn let the kyber fall from his hand, and Tahl seemed to stare into him with unseeing eyes, “Did he touch the kyber?”

Cody shifted, unnerved, “It was just a dream.”

“No,” she said, “it wasn’t. Did he touch the kyber?”

Cody grimaced, realizing only now that Obi-Wan seemed almost more interested in the kyber than him, “Yes.”

“He called me Fives,” the newest addition to their family, Ahsoka’s new Padawan, Oliver Wren said.

Cody stared at him, and for a moment, he saw it, the mannerisms, the tone of voice, and Cody even remembered his little brother at that physical age during training. “Fives?” he asked.

Oliver frowned at him, “What does that name mean to you?”

Rex signalled to him behind the kids back, and Cody blinked back tears as the full impact of what this meant hit him.

They hadn’t killed their brothers, hadn’t stopped them from being born, just prevented them from being born into a life of bondage.

Cody’s voice was a bit hoarse as he asked, “What does the name mean to you, Foundling?”

Oliver frowned, but didn’t respond, a reaction that made Cody wonder if the boy’s connection to the Force had made him somehow aware of what might have been.

“What did Obi-Wan free you from?” Ahsoka asked, “You’re aura does feel different.”

Cody frowned, “It was just a dream, Ahsoka.”

But Dooku spoke up for the first time, “Hugo Damask laid a hand on you at the funeral.”

They all turned to look at the would-have-been-a-Sith-Lord himself as Cody remembered that moment.

He swallowed a growl as he realized he had bowed before that gundark and the Sith had been there to gloat.

“How do you feel now?” Ahsoka asked him.

He looked at her, “Pissed.”

She shook her head, “I mean, as compared to yesterday?”

“I thought you were going to strike her,” Rex said before Cody could give a flippant response.

Cody stopped, his blood going cold, “I would never do that.”

But even as he said it, he remembered his apathy, his temper.

“I would  _ never _ do that,” he repeated.

“I do not how Sith compulsion works,” Jinn said, “But if you had been a lesser man, perhaps-”

“ _ No,” _ Cody said, “No, just no, they are my  _ aliit. _ ”

“They?” Dooku repeated, “So then it wasn’t just Ahoska who you wished to harm.”

Cody shut his eyes, and let out a long breath, “I would sooner eat my own blaster.”

“But the compulsion was there,” Dooku surmised.

Invasive bastard.

Cody recalled Rex punching him out, and allowed that to calm him. He didn’t care how much Ahsoka liked him, Cody never forgot who Dooku could be.

Jinn ran a hand over his face, “Obi-Wan bled his own kyber crystal. He pulled the darkness from you. Your aura is as bright as it was when we first met.”

Cody shook his head, “I haven’t changed.”

Rex crossed his arm, “Then why has it taken you ten years to discover that Damask with the Sith who took Obi-Wan and not have found  _ where _ they are?”

Cody glowered at him, “Says the man who stopped looking.”

Rex shrugged, “I’ve been busy, we’ve been waiting for the Sith to make their move as we protected ourselves from the Senate. But you were  _ looking _ for them, Cody.”

“So?” Cody challenged.

Rex raised a brow, “I’ve never known you to be incompetent.”

Cody stood, “I defeated the Black Sun.”

Rex nodded, “Yes, you did. You all but eradicated them down to the last thug, but how is it you never got close to finding your goal? How is it you never returned to Muunilinst?”

“You were tracking me?” Cody growled.

Rex tilted his head, “Why would you think I wouldn’t?”

That stopped him, had he been so emotional over the years, so out of it, that he had been unable to predict what his own brother would do? What he would have done if their places had been reversed?

He bowed his head and Ahsoka stepped forward to pull him into a hug, he hugged her back.

Protecting Obi-Wan had become central to his life, it had only taken him a few years to realize, to admit to himself, that his feelings for him weren’t what he felt for his brothers and for the foundlings he had come across.

But Ahsoka truly was a little sister to him, an adoptive daughter or niece who he would die to protect without question or regret.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

Cody held her tighter, and found himself echoing Obi-Wan, “N'eparavu takisit, ad'ika.”

_ I’m sorry, daughter. _

She hugged him harder still, “I’m so happy you’re home.”

He sighed, closing his eyes, regretting that he had put his hurt in losing Obi-Wan over her and Rex.

“It is a good thing you left,” Dooku said.

Cody pulled back and let his expression speak for him.

Dooku shook his head, “I believe Darth Plagueis twisted your mind, your emotions, and if you had stayed, if you had slipped up in your control at all, you might have been forced to act against your will.”

“Jedi mind tricks have never worked on us,” Cody said, meaning more himself and Rex as they had both had Obi-Wan and Skywalker try.

“The Dark Side does not require consent,” Dooku said.

“Did Obi-Wan say where he was?” Tahl asked.

Cody thought back to his dream and was very glad his skin was dark enough to hide the heat rushing to his face, “No, he just… lifted the Darkness.”

Rex gave him a sideways look, but Tahl nodded, shooing everyone out of the room, “You too, Ahsoka.”

Ahsoka put a hand on Oliver’s shoulder, his brother reborn, and said, “I think we need to bring you to Kiros.”

The boy stiffened, “I can help.”

She smiled, “I know you could, but I will not put you within reach or awareness of the Sith.”

“So you’ll send me to the Corps!?” He asked, fear crossing his face, “I-”

Ahsoka shook her head, “No, no, you will remain my Padawan, and you will be assigned missions with other Masters.”

“Why not the Alderaanian Temple?” he asked.

She smiled, “Because Master Plo and Asajj are the closest to our line, and Padawan Ventress is old enough to not feel as if she is being robbed of time with her Master. Both will have much to teach you.”

“How long will the mission to find Padawan Kenobi take?”

“I’m afraid I do not have an answer to that, but if we run out of leads and I am assigned other missions, you shall be with me.”

Oliver relaxed at that bowing his head, “I understand, Master Tano.”

Ahsoka grinned, “Come, we have some time yet,” leading him out the others having already left, “Is Djem So your preferred form?”

“Yes, Master.”

“It was my first Master’s preference as well.”

The door shut behind them, leaving only Rex.

Cody covered his face and let out an angry sound.

Rex gave him an amused look, “What else happened in the dream?”

“I thought it was just a dream!” he exploded.

Rex laughed, “Oh, I’m so glad I didn’t fall for a Jedi.”

“No, you’re marrying a Pacifist.”

“Satine isn’t a pacifist, she’s nearly as good as I am in a spar.”

Cody shook his head, “Are you moving to Mandalore then?”

Rex’s smile was wistful, “No, she is devoted to her work as I am. Talk of a marriage between us started as an alliance.”

“Politics?” Cody asked, astonished, “You’re marrying a woman because of politics?”

Rex snorted, “Force, no, I said that’s how it started, what with her being the Duchess and I the Manda’lor. But no, I love her, and unlike in our time, this Duchess is a knack for incendiary devices.”

Cody couldn’t stop the smile, “Sexy.”

Rex’s smile was bold, “Oh, you have no idea.”

“But you won’t be sharing a single home?”

He shrugged, “The sex is fun, but neither of us needs it every night. Our partnership is… well, easy. It’s like the least complicated thing in my life, and that’s part of why I love her.”

Envy filled Cody at that because it’s how he had fantasized his relationship with Obi-Wan might be. He didn’t want things to change between them, not how they acted or were seen in public, he just wanted… he wanted to be intimate, to love and be loved in return.

But he also knew that Obi-Wan had never looked at him like that, had never even considered it.

He sat down on the bunk, “I messed up.”

Rex looked at him, “You mean by not asking for help from anyone? Yeah, you did. I don’t think a dream-walking Kenobi was the only one who could have freed you of the darkness you have been holding onto.”

Cody winced, “I- I apologize for that, for possibly putting us all at risk, but that’s not what I meant.”

Rex sat down beside him, “Why does it matter to you that it was more than a dream? Weren’t you happy to see him after all these years? He didn’t still look like a kid did he?”

“No, he looked just as he had during the war,” Cody said, heart twisting with embarrassment.

“What did you say or do?” Rex pressed.

Cody shut his eyes and buried his face in his hands, “I never wanted to tell him.”

“What was that?”

Cody dropped his hands and caught Rex’s gaze, “I told him I loved him, and then I kissed him.”

Rex’s eyes widened, and a smile tugged at his lips.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me,” he warned.

“I always thought you should have told him.”

“He isn’t interested in men.”

“How would you know?” Rex asked, “It’s not like you ever broached the topic with him.”

“He isn’t-”

“Oh, come on, Codes. He maybe has never given you the doe-eyed look you gave him every time he turned his back. But you would have to be blind to not see how much Obi-Wan admired and cared about you.”

“It’s not the same.”

“No, it isn’t. But Cody, Obi-Wan blames himself for what happened to us. For every vod death, he blamed himself. You do realize that he would never actually ask anything from us, especially nothing personal. General Kenobi established very clear lines, more than any other Jedi I’ve ever met, what was and wasn’t appropriate to ask of us. He might not have been as personable as Skywalker or Koon, but that’s because he respected our rights to privacy.”

“I know that,” Cody snapped.

“Do you? Codes, Obi-Wan would never consider you as a potential partner, or even lover, unless you directly told him it’s what you wanted.”

Cody was shaken his head, “He doesn’t like-”

“What did he say after you confessed your feelings?”

“That he didn’t deserve me.”

Rex’s face softened, “He sees himself as a slaver.”

“I don’t!” Cody exclaimed, “What is it going to take to convince him we are no longer slaves, that-”

Rex put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “Listen to what he said. He thinks you’re a better man than him, because he still hasn’t forgiven himself.”

Cody growled.

Rex grinned, “Hey, it's not my fault you set your heart on someone so conflicted. I also don’t imagine the time travelling into a thirteen-year-old’s body, and then getting tortured by a Sith Lord for however many years has much improved his idea of self worth.”

Cody sighed, “I know, it’s why I never wanted to tell him. He doesn’t need me or my issues. I had intended to move on.”

Rex chuckled, “Claiming him as kin and obsessing over him for fourteen years is your idea of-”

“I will tell Satine about that one time on Kamino you snuck into to Jango’s class and-”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Then drop it. I made a fool out myself, and we are no closer to finding and saving him than we were before.”

“What did he do when you kissed him?”

Cody was quiet for a moment, trying not to remember the moment Obi-Wan pulled him back in- “He kissed me back,” he said, “but he was holding this,” he held the red gem, “I think he was using the kiss to lift the curse from my mind.”

The feel of the darkness leaving him had felt like, like that one time they had been on a march for weeks, covered in dirt, dust, sweat, and the blood of his brothers, and they had found a spring fed lake, so deep, and clear.

By the time he had emerged from the dive, he had felt  _ clean. _

That’s what that moment had felt like.

Rex gave him a one armed hug, “Then look at this way, he loves you enough to corrupt himself then let you suffer, and if he doesn’t return your feelings how you had hoped, then you know. And maybe you can actually move on.”

“I haven’t been celibate,” Cody grumped, he wasn’t that pathetic. He hadn’t been waiting for Obi-Wan because he knew it would never be real between them.

Rex patted him on the back, “I know, vod, but I meant, emotionally, you can move on. It’s no longer this huge secret you have to keep. But no matter what, the four and more of us, are always going to be family, and I know Kenobi will never think less of you for sharing this piece of yourself with him.”

Cody pulled the cord over his head to get a good look at the kyber crystal, whose red colour looked and felt wrong, “What if we don’t reach him in time?” 

It was the question that had fuelled his rage, had kept him from wanting to claw his way free of the Darkness in his mind, in the bloody life he had forged for himself.

Rex laid his hand over the kyber, “Because it’s Kenobi, the man is made of Beskar.”

Cody didn’t say what his was thinking;

Even Mandalorian steel had its limits.

* * *

Obi-Wan woke strapped to a table.

_ Wonderful, _ he thought.

Plagueis was staring down at him like, well, exactly like what he was, an evil mad scientist. 

He laid a hand on Obi-Wan’s cheek, turned his head so that the lights dazzled his vision, he let out a low hiss. His muscles tightening, pulling the restraints taught.

He was so tired of this, so done.

He was still wearing those Force suppressors but he knew the Force was there, and he pulled-

Plagueis’s laugh broke his concentration, “Oh, my little pet, how long have I tried to alter you thus, and here I find that you’ve done it to yourself.”

Obi-Wan stilled, his thoughts a scrambled mess so that it was difficult to know-

_ Cody. _

He couldn’t remember exactly, but he remembered-

He remembered.

Fear spiralled in his mind as he realized what he had done, the lines he had crossed.

He had bled his own kyber crystal.

He swallowed back bile.

He had bled his kyber crystal and he had…  _ enjoyed it. _

“I was right about you, right about what you could become, the power you could possess. Held back only by your attachment to the Light,” Plagueis’s hand moved to his chest. “Though I did not expect you to delve so far on your first taste.”

Obi-Wan’s heart was racing as he tried and failed to restrain his emotions, even as he said in a voice so cold it did not sound like his own, “Your expectations, like your aspirations, are lacking.”

Plagueis pressed down on his chest as he said, “You have failed, Jedi.”

“I did not fail,” Obi-Wan snapped, his muscles straining as he tried to rise of this stupid table. “I saved him!”

“Your passion saved him, it gave you strength, and through your victory, you learned that the Jedi have been lying to themselves about since the dawn of their Order.”

Obi-Wan had just enough self-awareness not to spit in the Muun’s face.

He pressed down harder, constraining Obi-Wan’s breaths but making his heart pound more rapidly, as the Dark Lord said triumphantly; “ _ Peace is a lie, there is only Passion. _ ”

“You’re the liar,” Obi-Wan said through clenched teeth as he pulled on the Force passed the cuffs whose constraint over him.

Obi-Wan couldn’t see the smile past the breathing apparatus but he heard it even past the translation as Darth Plagueis recited, “ _ Through Victory.”  _

Obi-Wan felt like a trapped bird, a sparrow in the coils of a snake, he wrenched on the Force, there was not enough resolve or peace inside of him to submit and endure Plagueis’s experimentation.

But even as the restraints gave, Plagueis’s voice was still pleased, “ _ My chains are Broken.” _

The Force suppressors shattered, the metal slicing against as the full presence of the Force burned bright before the rising ocean of power he had summoned came rushing toward him.

_ “The Force shall free me,” _ Plagueis finished, pressing down, directing that dark power in a way that Obi-Wan was too inexperienced to.

The Darkness ripped through him.

And he screamed.

* * *

AN: Either it's your cup of tea or it isn’t, but if you're still seated at my table, please consider reviewing? And yes, we are only half way through and it will be more about space magic then torture because mwahahahahaha! I like writing villains.


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